Elena Esposito is an applied economist with research interests in the fields of development economics, economic growth, political economy, and economic history. .
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Research investigating the crisis response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014-16 contains some important lessons for policymakers, both for dealing with the ongoing COVID pandemic and for building resilience to prepare for future heath crises.
5 min read Continue reading Responding to Public Health Crises: Avoiding a Legacy of Social Unrest and Conflict
In 1641 Massachusetts legalized slavery, the first North American colony to do so. Slavery was to persist in the colonies and territories, and then the United States for another two centuries, until formally abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Numerous theories have been advanced about why the US, a nation that values individual liberty so highly, introduced and institutionalized the practice of slavery. And why the slavery of African slaves in the southern states, in particular, became the prevalent form of slavery. Now, Elena Esposito publishes new research showing how the spread of malaria in North America may explain the pattern of growth of slavery in the US.
5 min read Continue reading Mosquitoes, malaria and the spread of slavery in the US
