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The trade-off between economic growth and coronavirus containment
By Kent R. Kroeger (Source: NuQum.com; October 19, 2020)
Our World In Data (OWID), a non-profit organization that provides open-source access to worldwide economic and development data, recently asked a simple question on its website: Have the countries experiencing the largest economic decline performed better in protecting the nation’s health, as we would expect if there was a trade-off?
Using cross-sectional data for 38 countries on 2020-Q2 GDP growth and the number of COVID-19 deaths per capita (through June 30th), their answer was as straightforward as their question:
“Contrary to the idea of a trade-off, we see that countries which suffered the most severe economic downturns — like Peru, Spain and the UK — are generally among the countries with the highest COVID-19 death rate.
And the reverse is also true: countries where the economic impact has been modest — like Taiwan, South Korea, and Lithuania — have also managed to keep the death rate low.
As well as saving lives, countries controlling the outbreak effectively may have adopted the best economic strategy too.”
OWID’s finding is consistent with other expert findings on the economic trade-offs associated with controlling the coronavirus:
