Macroeconomic Health Shocks and Business Cycle Dynamics

The article is a study of the impact of macroeconomic health shocks in their role as business cycle fluctuation factors. They appear in the form of exogenous shocks for the economic system, influencing macroeconomic activity. The analysis contributes to the develop­ment of a better understanding of those types of shock in two aspects. The first aspect is in relation to a clearer delineation of their idiosyncrasies. The second aspect is in regard to the study of their contemporary dimensions. In order to do that, a comparative analysis of their influence on business cycle dynamics is conducted in two directions. The first one compares the exogenous health factors in the last two decades. The epidemics of SARS-CoV-1, H5N1, H7N9, and EVD are included, as well as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The study examines each of them, evaluating how much their characteristics comply with the criteria defining an exog­enous macroeconomic shock. The second direction realizes a comparative analysis in a longer historical context, focusing on the manifestation of the Spanish flu during the 1918-1920 period.