Kyran Fitzgerald: History suggests pandemic misery prompts New Deal economic thinking

Global plagues and slumps leave human misery in their wake, but can also lead to major economic reforms, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

Global plagues or pandemics do not simply create a trail of human misery and social dislocation. They can also transform economies, writes Kyran FitzGerald

More than 20m people died in Europe — around one-third of the population — during the Black Death plague between 1347 and 1352. Villages were stripped of much of their workforce.