Epidemics and Pandemics in Economic-historical Perspective – An Introduction

Epidemics and pandemics have been a constant feature of human life across all regions and historical periods. They have led to individual suffering, brought on far-reaching societal challenges and shaped demographic trends. Their effects persist far into the future and are not fully understood yet. One area that still merits further research concerns the economic costs attached to pandemics in the short, medium, and long term. The articles assembled in this thematic special issue include a wide range of case studies across different time periods, geographic contexts, and types of pathogens. Collectively, they contribute to our historical understanding of the socioeconomic backgrounds of epidemics and pandemics, societal responses to them, and their impact on key areas of social life. This special issue reflects the inherently interdisciplinary nature of economic and social history which serves as a bridge between historical scholarship and the social sciences, particularly economics. This introduction focuses on distilling key insights from the growing body of literature on the economic costs of epidemics and pandemics. Our aim is to identify the lessons that history has clearly taught us about economic costs so far, while also drawing attention to those areas of knowledge that remain only partially understood and deserve future research.