Quantifying the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the worth of a cure can assist cost-benefit analyses of potential public-sector investment to alleviate the impact of the current pandemic. By reflecting forward-looking expectations, stock prices should indicate the economic value of progress being made towards vaccine development. This column estimates the value of a COVID-19 cure using the behaviour of stock prices and a novel vaccine progress indicator. The value of a cure is worth between 5% and 15% of wealth and rises substantially with uncertainty surrounding the frequency and duration of the pandemic. Understanding the fundamental biological and social determinants of future pandemics may be as important as resolving the immediate crisis.
https://voxeu.org/article/value-vaccine-end-covid-19-worth-between-5-and-15-wealth
