Comparative analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 economy on Turkish and US economies

The Covid-19 epidemic emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019, spread rapidly all over the world and caused the death of approximately 6.9 million people. Due to the epidemic, approximately 102.000 people in Turkey and approximately 1.162.000 people in the United States died. Although the epidemic has slowed down, it is not over yet. Due to the epidemic, people were restricted from leaving their homes, forming a community was prohibited, wearing masks and complying with the social distance rule of at least 1.5 meters were required. All these have had devastating effects on working life and economic indicators. Countries have taken various measures to minimize the devastating effects of the epidemic. The study aimed to reveal the devastating effects of the epidemic in the economies of Türkiye and the USA, the measures taken and how successful these measures were. In this framework, growth rate, unemployment rate, foreign trade, public deficit, inflation rate, interest rate and real effective exchange rate indicators are used. The Covid-19 epidemic caused a decrease in the growth rates of countries, an increase in unemployment rates especially in the USA, a decrease in exports and imports, a deterioration in the budget balance and an increase in foreign borrowing for both countries. For both countries, it caused a decrease in real effective exchange rates, a reduction in policy interest rates, and an increase in inflation during the periods when the epidemic was felt intensely. Türkiye has shown a successful performance in the management of the epidemic. Timely measures and a strong health infrastructure are the most important factors. The USA, on the other hand, could not show a successful performance in the epidemic management compared to Türkiye. The late measures, the inability of US citizens to not enough benefit from health services and the inadequacies in the field of health have effective in the failure of epidemic management.