Common Errors in Cost/Benefit Justifications of the Coronavirus Lockdowns

06/22/2020 Robert P. Murphy

Bob explains some of the basic–but crucial–errors in the cost/benefit analyses that have been offered by economists to justify the political lockdowns issued in light of the coronavirus. Specifically, economists have conflated voluntary physical distancing with coerced lockdowns, and they are also misusing the concept of a Value of a Statistical Life (VSL).

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