  We study the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on mortality
and economic activity across U.S. cities during the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The
combination of fast and stringent NPIs reduced peak mortality by 50% and
cumulative excess mortality by 24% to 34%. However, while the pandemic itself
was associated with short-run economic disruptions, we find that these
disruptions were similar across cities with strict and lenient NPIs. NPIs also
did not worsen medium-run economic outcomes. Our findings indicate that NPIs
can reduce disease transmission without further depressing economic activity, a
finding also reflected in discussions in contemporary newspapers.
