Reference :- As the coronavirus spread , The Sky Reply team researched the global response to previous flu epidemics .

Reference :-    The markets have reacted badly to news of the spreading coronavirus .  And the cost to the economy is likely to be huge .

 The Sky Reply team decided to look through hundreds of old newspaper articles from the 1918 to 1920  "Spanish Flu " epidemic .  We were keen to see the focus of the articles , in case authorities are  reacting differently a century later . And they are .  Nowhere did we find old headlines expressing alarm about 
 "  The Market" or the economy .  The focus was entirely on people , not share portfolios or budget surpluses .

 Not that there was no damage to the financial sector , it's just that in those days people didn't seem to care as much about things like Dow Jones Indices or  Nasdaq Composites .   Well obviously we do now , since as we all know ,  living human beings are sometimes useful  , but the health of "The Market" is what really matters .

 Fortunately for us , investment guru Ray Dalio has done the hard work , and dug out the economic figures from that pandemic of long ago .  He has plotted graphs in an attempt to model the likely effect of a pandemic on share prices today . It could be bad news for those with extensive portfolios .

  But thinking again , we don't boast vast share portfolios out here at Kooralya , so we couldn't give a rat's what happens to the Dow Jones .   And what a relief it is to not have to worry.    We will be happy eating our  baked beans on toast,  as long as nobody gets sick .    

      Your comrade , Ken