The Impact of COVID on the Economy

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Jonathan Gruber: We are constantly acting in ways that have quote, unquote, negative impacts on other people. He says it's a mistake to look at the physical emitter of something and then conclude that they should be responsible for avoiding problem. Gruber: It takes two to tango, it takes two to externalize. The righteous mind is one of them.

Economist Don Boudreaux of George Mason University talks about the pandemic with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Boudreaux argues that a perfect storm of factors created a huge overreaction, including unnecessary lockdowns that accomplished little at a very high cost in physical and emotional health. Instead, Boudreaux argues, we should have focused attention on the population most at risk of dying from COVID--the elderly and especially the elderly with co-morbidities. The conversation includes a discussion of externalities and the insights of Ronald Coase applied to the policies during the pandemic.