I think it’s a reasonable statement, in fact I’d say it represents orthodox economic thinking. Permanently removing hundreds of thousands of people from the eco

I think it’s a reasonable statement, in fact I’d say it represents orthodox economic thinking. Permanently removing hundreds of thousands of people from the economy (as well as temporarily removing millions) will depress both aggregate demand and productivity for decades to come. The government and the central bank should support people of working age with fiscal and monetary policy for as long as they are kept safely on the bench. Another point that’s worth making is that even someone in a nursing home is way more economically active than someone who is six feet underground. In short, there’s no tension between protecting “the economy” and protecting people’s health. We avoid fighting a war that we cannot win, we bide our time, and then confidently return to full output when the medical crisis has been fixed.