Why were the UK and USA unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic? The systemic weaknesses of neoliberalism: a comparison between the UK, USA, Germany, and South Korea

Abstract

Pandemics historically have killed as many people as the wars that have beset this world, yet the resources committed to pandemic prevention and response are a fraction of the resources we commit to security. This paper examines the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 by analysing the preparedness and responses of the UK, the USA, Germany, and South Korea. We will evidence that the UK and USA lacked the levels of preparedness that global health reports indicated, and that their responses were diametrically opposite of those of Germany and South Korea. We argue that decades of deregulation and privatization due to neoliberal, free-market economics by the UK and USA led to the Great Recession of 2008. This, in turn, led to economic collapse and austerity (increased neoliberalism), which negatively impacted investment in healthcare in the UK and USA. This resulted in very different levels of preparedness and responses by the four countries under the microscope.

Exploration of spatial-temporal varying impacts on COVID-19 cumulative case in Texas using geographically weighted regression (GWR)

“…COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in India have led to the collapse of regular mental health services (Grover et al 2020 ). Interestingly, a comparison about COVID-19 response between the UK, USA, Germany, and South Korea is rooted in the systemic weaknesses of neoliberalism (Megaloikonomos et al 2021 ; Mellish et al 2020 ). Mellish et al ( 2020 ) proposed that economic recession and austerity impeded health care investment in the UK and USA.…”

“…Interestingly, a comparison about COVID-19 response between the UK, USA, Germany, and South Korea is rooted in the systemic weaknesses of neoliberalism (Megaloikonomos et al 2021 ; Mellish et al 2020 ). Mellish et al ( 2020 ) proposed that economic recession and austerity impeded health care investment in the UK and USA. Air quality impacts of COVID-19 are mentioned in Europe and China (Mellish et al 2020 ; Menut et al 2021 ; Liu et al 2020 ).…”

“…Mellish et al ( 2020 ) proposed that economic recession and austerity impeded health care investment in the UK and USA. Air quality impacts of COVID-19 are mentioned in Europe and China (Mellish et al 2020 ; Menut et al 2021 ; Liu et al 2020 ). From a macro spectrum perspective, global collaboration and a data-driven systems approach will contribute to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and potential public health crisis (Ros et al 2021 ).…”

Tropicality and the Choc en Retour of Covid-19 and Climate Change

“…Other countries did the same, and civil liberties groups were quick to point to unprecedented restrictions on individual liberty (Greene, 2020). Across Europe, but especially in the UK (and also in the US), Covid-19 also exposed chronic underfunding in public health provision, the privatisation of health systems (research and hospital facilities, and equipment supply chains), and, concomitantly, "the systemic weakness of neo-liberalism" as a public service project (Mellish et. al., 2020).…”

Non-pharmaceutical interventions in a generalized model of interactive dynamics between COVID-19 and the economy

“… 1 This policy conundrum might result from a conflict between multiple policy objectives, and indicative of the socio-economic-political regime within which the policy is conducted. Hence, it might not be necessarily replicated in all countries [ 24 , 25 ]. However a consideration of these issues is outside the scope of the current study.…”