The Conversation

Modelling suggests going early and going hard will save lives and help the economy

30-03-2020 Author: Quentin Grafton, Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

In 1997, a bestselling book by Jared Diamond purported to explain how the West “won” world dominance based on the good luck of geography, and because western countries were the first to industrialise.

Fast forward to 2020, and to COVID-19. Geography still matters, but the West is no longer “winning”.

Despite initial...

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