Geoffrey MillerVerified account

At some point worrying about the economy is worrying about human lives. Social distancing for a few weeks probably saves more lives than it costs. Shutting the whole economy down for a year, would do the reverse. (Though might be justified for a much worse virus).

Nobody rational has advocated shutting the whole economy down for a year. I've advocated a 3-7 week lockdown.

Would it be fair to say that severe downturn in economy will also claim many lives?

Of course. But the downturn will be _much_ worse if the pandemic isn't handled first.

“The economy“ is its own life, made of our lives. Its discontinuities are measured in human suffering, and people shit on others for worrying about it for the same reason apes naturally bias proximate. Yet such instincts don’t serve us as well as we might hope in today’s world.

Yes. The economy matters hugely, insofar as it affects real human lives. But we tend to treat the abstract metrics that track it as goals in their own right. That's what I'm arguing against. Don't anthropomorphize the S&P 500.

number 4 is more gray. i worry about the economy and how that's going to take lives

I’ve done 2) unfortunately. Instead of relying on “The Blame Instinct” as Hans Rowling calls it, I’m toning it down and looking for solutions and strategies at dealing with, containing, and eventually eradicating this

Honesty check passed. Love to see it on the feed. Too many accounts not recognizing their failures and mistakes, their humility as humans, unless a mob forces their thumbs.