How Great Wealth Follows After World Pandemics

Written by Post Comment


Does it sound strange to say that there is massive wealth in the post-COVID-19 economy? It shouldn’t be surprising at all. Do you know that the 1918 Influenza pandemic (Spanish Flu) was exponentially worse than what we’re currently living through in the COVID-19 case and yet it was followed with an unbelievable period of prosperity?


Yes, there is great wealth in the post-COVID-19 economy, but a substantial part will be gathered and picked up by a comparatively fewer businesses, nations, and individuals. The rest will scramble for the crumbs. Before we see how you can be among those who will really get rich in this emerging economic scenario, let’s run through the picture of the 1918 pandemic.

It was a global pandemic that infected about 500 million people or one-third of world population. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide. Half of those who died were in their prime ages (20s and 30s), and two-thirds of the deaths took place over a 24-week period. Imagine one-third of global population being wiped out in two years!

As at May 2020, world population is 7.8 billion according to most recent United Nations estimates  elaborated by Worldometer. In comparative terms, the case of COVID-19 isn’t as bad as that of 1918 Pandemic (Flu). As at morning of May 11, 2020, global statistics shows a total of 4,181,181 confirmed cases, 283,868 (or 16 percent) deaths, and 1,493,448 (or 84 percent) recoveries.

Commenting on the Spanish Flu, Ben Carlson, a blogger, writes that as compared to today, there were no reliable diagnostic test, and no good treatment. There were also no commercial airplanes to speedily transport medical supplies; the fastest means of transport around the world then was by ship or by train.

Cars were few and exclusively for the rich, so also were telephones. Populations were not as literate as we have today, so creation of awareness and dissemination of health precautionary guidelines were done slowly.

We should also consider that as compared to now, the pandemic must have been grossly under-reported; there were no Internet, no social media, no mobile phones, and so on. That’s why some sources put the estimated death toll at between 50 and 100 million. To complicate matters, World War 1 (1914-1918) was also raging.

Despite all those adverse factors, the world recovered and entered into a decade of unprecedented growth and prosperity. That’s why Carlson asks, “How many people at the time would have predicted during the war/pandemic/recession/depression years that the 1920s would be one of the most innovative, prosperous periods our country (America) had ever seen?

He states that the 1920s ushered in the automobile, the airplane, the radio, the assembly line, the refrigerator, electric razor, washing machine, jukebox, television and more. Even the stock market also experienced boom and explosion.

Earlier in the 14th century, there was the plague known as the Black Death, which occurred from 1347 to 1351. It killed between 30 percent and 45 percent of the population in its first wave 1348-49. In all, this pandemic killed about 50 million people.

However, it was also followed by economic recovery and prosperity. Soon after the pandemic, doors opened to many new kinds of employment, and labour was re-organized as many people moved into new occupations.

Not only was there dramatic increase in workers’ remuneration as landowners struggled to recruit and retain labourers, but women’s gains were even more outstanding.  They were able to find employment in hitherto male-dominated jobs, or migrate to towns to work in the growing textile industries and commercial services and so enjoy “economic independence”.

In the same or even better ways, the post- COVID-19 economy is going to bounce back in a strong, prosperous, and virile manner.

What should we do to take advantage of the post-coronavirus wealth? In my blog post last two weeks, I stated that problems always produce opportunities. That the restarting of several economies around the world, particularly in your environment, will present opportunities for solving the numerous human problems created by COVID-19. These human problems include: hunger, lack, job losses, psychological stress, rising cost of living, inflation, and so on. The following can help us participate in the financial gains of post-coronavirus.

(1) Don’t spend money on anything you don’t need. Post-coronavirus era is not a time to waste money or fritter it away on non-essentials. Initially, there’ll not be abundance of money; but rather what individuals and businesses do with what lean resources they have will produce the wealth. So spend money on what you really need.

(2) Freelance and also create your own jobs: In the next couple of months and years, many of the paid jobs, particularly government jobs, may not be there again. It’s not the time to write applications and wait endlessly to be invited for interviews. So start with what you have and where you are to provide services to people.

A freelance or freelancer is a person who works in many places or renders services to a number of people or companies. He can work as a writer, designer, performer, and so on.

(3) Diversify: It’s important to diversify into areas of pressing needs in the present set of circumstances. Without mincing words, COVID-19 and the attendant lockdown created hunger, and loss of capital by micro businesses and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the land. So food and beverages, skills training (particularly digital), and health services, among others, are real needs people want met. Diversifying into areas of fundamental human needs is important.

(4) Upskill digitally: The nature of work, communication, education, and social interaction, are fast undergoing a big transformation. Businesses and individuals are now in dire need of people who are equipped with the relevant digital skills. The post-coronavirus period is a Fourth Industrial Revolution era driven by the digital and emerging technologies knowledge. So endeavor to skill up digitally.

We meet again next week.

RELEVANT BOOKS: These eBooks by this author will definitely inspire you to participate in the upcoming post-coronavirus financial boom. Use links below to shop.

(i) Principles of Constant Cash Flow and Sustainable Wealth. Click.
(ii) Best Business and Investment Opportunities. Click.
(iii) Capacity Building for Mega Breakthroughs. Click.

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