Cutler said the work lends numbers to what has been widely believed: that the coronavirus pandemic is among the greatest economic calamities in the nation’s modern history. The tally, Cutler said, is four times the damage done by 2008’s Great Recession, outstrips the amount spent on all the fighting — in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria — over the 19 years since 9/11, and, according to their analysis, “is the greatest threat to prosperity and well-being the U.S. has encountered since the Great Depression.”
While the economy has often been cited in an either/or argument about whether to take restrictive steps to fight the virus’ spread, such as lockdowns and targeted closures of bars and restaurants, Cutler said the argument that economics actually supports taking even costly steps to shorten the pandemic’s course has been drowned out. That’s because people fearful of infection won’t show up to work or spend money in shops if the virus is spreading widely in their communities.