Thread by @paulkrugman, Since it's now a right-wing talking point that a weak economy may [...]

Paul Krugman

paulkrugman

Since it's now a right-wing talking point that a weak economy may kill more people than the virus, question: have we actually seen that in past slumps? No. 1/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/us/politics/peter-navarro-coronavirus.html

Navarro Calls Medical Experts ‘Tone Deaf’ Over Coronavirus Shutdown

President Trump’s trade adviser warned that a prolonged shutdown of nonessential commerce could pose a more dire long-term health threat to the United States than the virus itself.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/us/politics/peter-navarro-coronavirus.html

The Great Recession didn't cause a spike in mortality (OECD data) 2/

Mortality actually fell during the Great Depression! 3/ https://www.pnas.org/content/106/41/17290

Life and death during the Great Depression

Recent events highlight the importance of examining the impact of economic downturns on population health. The Great Depression of the 1930s was the most important economic downturn in the U.S. in...

https://www.pnas.org/content/106/41/17290

But what about "deaths of despair"? Those do indeed reflect loss of economic opportunity — but over the long term, and associated with rising inequality and loss of social status. There is no reason to believe that reopening the economy in the face of pandemic will save lives 4/

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