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Two parts of your comment contradict each other... How is it that nobody was enforcing/following the lockdowns (so the economy could presumably function), yet p

by sershe 6y ago

Two parts of your comment contradict each other... How is it that nobody was enforcing/following the lockdowns (so the economy could presumably function), yet pandemic ruined the economy and not lockdowns (implying lack of demand due to widespread voluntary compliance)? My experience in WA and NV was that nobody cares. Even in "liberal" Seattle, a couple weeks after WA reopened indoor dining, we went out and couldn't find a spot in a restaurant in the entire neighborhood without a 20+ minute wait. We traveled to NV a few times in the last few months and it was always like that - everything that is allowed to be crowded, is. Extended family in MA recently reported on the places nearby closing "due to the pandemic". Extended family in TX had a kid's birthday party at a water park. And, tangentially, MA has more cases and deaths per capita than TX... If there were no lockdowns, the economy would have been mostly fine all along. The unemployment rate divergence across states seems to bear this out.

ryandrake 6y ago
The economic victims were the businesses that voluntarily closed and their employees, and the ones in the few regions where business closures were enforced. The businesses that horsed around and didn't close were mostly fine, but contributed to a public health disaster. Hopefully the lesson learned in 2020 is that actual lockdowns work (see the countries that actually did them), but if you're too timid to enforce lockdowns (like the USA), then don't send mixed messages and do it half way. We could have 1. done a lockdown and gotten on with life after a very short period of economic hardship, or 2. ignored it and let a whole bunch of people die. Somehow our government managed to pick a worse option: 3. implement unenforced and unevenly enforced measures, which both craters the economy long term AND lets a whole bunch of people die. Great work, USA.
- sershe 6y ago
  Per capita cases/deaths in the USA are not worse than many major European countries, so I am not sure why you singled out the USA. Moreover, I am not sure the strictness of lockdowns really correlated with outcomes - Sweden is a famous example, Belgium vs Netherlands another iirc. The only lockdowns that worked (so far) were either islands (meaning very few points of exchange that are easy to control) or totalitarian (e.g. China). Or a little bit of both, like cops barging into somebody's home in Australia over a Facebook post. At that point I'll take liberty over safety, thank you.

by sershe 6y ago

ryandrake 6y ago

The economic victims were the businesses that voluntarily closed and their employees, and the ones in the few regions where business closures were enforced. The businesses that horsed around and didn't close were mostly fine, but contributed to a public health disaster. Hopefully the lesson learned in 2020 is that actual lockdowns work (see the countries that actually did them), but if you're too timid to enforce lockdowns (like the USA), then don't send mixed messages and do it half way. We could have 1. done a lockdown and gotten on with life after a very short period of economic hardship, or 2. ignored it and let a whole bunch of people die. Somehow our government managed to pick a worse option: 3. implement unenforced and unevenly enforced measures, which both craters the economy long term AND lets a whole bunch of people die. Great work, USA.

sershe 6y ago
Per capita cases/deaths in the USA are not worse than many major European countries, so I am not sure why you singled out the USA. Moreover, I am not sure the strictness of lockdowns really correlated with outcomes - Sweden is a famous example, Belgium vs Netherlands another iirc. The only lockdowns that worked (so far) were either islands (meaning very few points of exchange that are easy to control) or totalitarian (e.g. China). Or a little bit of both, like cops barging into somebody's home in Australia over a Facebook post. At that point I'll take liberty over safety, thank you.