Milwaukee Journal on January 21, 1919, about how the health of the city is improving.

The First World War is often identified for its role in hastening the spread of the flu, yet non-participation alone did not prevent the spread. Both Sweden and Norway remained neutral during the war and still experienced the same level of mortality as the United States and Europe.  In Norway, the effects of the Spanish flu hindered the development of community-based economic cooperatives for 25 years. In Sweden, the effects of the flu resulted in a decrease of capital returns and an increase in the population living in poorhouses. Despite the decrease in the labor force, researchers found no corresponding rise in earnings.

Some researchers have argued that the epidemic contributed to the onset of the brief, post-WWI recession. In the US, those states with the highest levels of mortality also had elevated rates of business closures between 1919 and 1921. Much of the subsequent economic growth of the 1920s appears to be merely a return to the pre-epidemic trend.