section_path: Causes
section_name: Causes
paragraph_text: Causes
  
  The COVID-19 pandemic is the most disruptive pandemic since the Spanish flu in 1918. When the pandemic first arose in late 2019 and more consequently in 2020, the world was going through economic stagnation and significant consumer downturn. Most economists believed a recession, though one which would not be particularly severe, was coming. As a result of the rapid spread of the pandemic, economies across the world initiated population lockdowns to curb the spread of the pandemic. This resulted in the collapse of various industries and consumerism all at once, which put major pressure on banks and employment. This caused a stock market crash and, thereafter, the recession. With new social distancing measures taken in response to the pandemic, lockdowns occurred across much of the world economy.