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Chris Hayes reminding those itching to restart the economy early why it's not a good idea
Chris Hayes ✔@chrislhayes
I'm watching the "just let the virus do it's thing and keep the economy humming" school of thought grow on the right. And it seems worth noting something crucial.
First, it *is* true that the trade-off right now between a raging pandemic and a Great Depression style hit to the economy is a horrible one, and we need to get to a place where we can manage the virus and also have something like normal life.
The key to getting there is suppression: testing, tracing and treatment. We're still a long way from that.
But let's say you just think the costs outweight the benefits, and are not morally persuaded by the idea that we shouldn't let hundreds and thousands if not millions of (disproportionately) the oldest and sickest among us be left to die.
So just think of the economics of this: if you stopped lockdowns, and sent everyone back to work, lots and lots of people would get sick. You'd have workplaces where half the staff were out. And this would roll through all kinds of places, people who maintain the electrical grid
and water treatment and sewage systems, etc... Not only that, as the hospitals filled up and horror stories emerged, you'd have tons of deaths from things other than Covid-19 that couldn't get treated. This would make ppl more scared of getting the bug and lead to further retreat
Which is to say, even if you care about economic activity as the only value here, it's really not clear that anything like "business as usual" is even a possibility in the midst of a roaring pandemic, even if you let everything stay open.
In fact, you risk ending up with the worst of both worlds: mass death and sickness AND ALSO an economy that's essentially shut down.
1:46 PM - Mar 23, 2020
I'm watching the "just let the virus do it's thing and keep the economy humming" school of thought grow on the right. And it seems worth noting something crucial.
First, it *is* true that the trade-off right now between a raging pandemic and a Great Depression style hit to the economy is a horrible one, and we need to get to a place where we can manage the virus and also have something like normal life.
The key to getting there is suppression: testing, tracing and treatment. We're still a long way from that.
But let's say you just think the costs outweight the benefits, and are not morally persuaded by the idea that we shouldn't let hundreds and thousands if not millions of (disproportionately) the oldest and sickest among us be left to die.
So just think of the economics of this: if you stopped lockdowns, and sent everyone back to work, lots and lots of people would get sick. You'd have workplaces where half the staff were out. And this would roll through all kinds of places, people who maintain the electrical grid
and water treatment and sewage systems, etc... Not only that, as the hospitals filled up and horror stories emerged, you'd have tons of deaths from things other than Covid-19 that couldn't get treated. This would make ppl more scared of getting the bug and lead to further retreat
Which is to say, even if you care about economic activity as the only value here, it's really not clear that anything like "business as usual" is even a possibility in the midst of a roaring pandemic, even if you let everything stay open.
In fact, you risk ending up with the worst of both worlds: mass death and sickness AND ALSO an economy that's essentially shut down.
1:46 PM - Mar 23, 2020
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