Pitch Engine
The Times Real Estate

.

Open letter from 222 Australian economists: don't sacrifice health for 'the economy'

  • Written by Steven Hamilton, Visiting Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

In recent weeks a growing chorus of Australian commentators has called for social distancing measures to be eased or radically curtailed.

Some have claimed the lives saved by the lockdowns are not worth the damage they are causing to the economy.

Others have claimed the case for easing is strengthened by the fact many of the hardest hit by...

Read more: Open letter from 222 Australian economists: don't sacrifice health for 'the economy'

More Articles ...

  1. The charts that show coronavirus pushing up to a quarter of the workforce out of work
  2. Protecting lives and livelihoods: the data on why New Zealand should relax its coronavirus lockdown from Thursday
  3. Virgin Australia gets a lifeline, but will it be enough?
  4. Don't panic: Australia has truly excellent food security
  5. Vital Signs: APRA's extraordinary gift to banks under pressure to pay dividends
  6. Unlocking Australia: What can benefit-cost analysis tell us?
  7. How will the coronavirus recession compare with the worst in Australia's history?
  8. A temporary income tax hike is the bitter but equitable pill Australia should swallow
  9. The next employment challenge from coronavirus: how to help the young
  10. This could be the end of the line for cruise ships
  11. The last thing companies should be doing right now is paying dividends
  12. What should we do with 1 billion hours of time? Australia's COVID-19 opportunity
  13. Vital Signs: a lesson from game theory the coronavirus contrarians ignore
  14. 50 years of bold predictions about remote work: it isn't all about technology
  15. JobKeeper is quick, dirty and effective: there was no time to make it perfect
  16. Why temporary migrants need JobKeeper
  17. Open letter to the prime minister: extend coronavirus support to temporary workers
  18. Coronavirus support packages will reshape the future economy, and that presents an opportunity
  19. Look who's talking: Australia's telcos, banks and supermarkets granted exemption to cartel laws
  20. Automatic doors: the simple technology that could help stop coronavirus spreading
  21. It is necessary to worry about health, but pessimism about the economy will hurt us
  22. The government opens a coronavirus super loophole: it's legal to put your money in, take it out, and save on tax
  23. The coronavirus response calls into question the future of super
  24. Why closing our borders to foreign workers could see fruit and vegetable prices spike
  25. JobKeeper payment: how will it work, who will miss out and how to get it?
  26. Australia's $130 billion JobKeeper payment: what the experts think
  27. The key to the success of the $130 billion wage subsidy is retrospective paid work
  28. Modelling suggests going early and going hard will save lives and help the economy
  29. New OECD estimates suggest a 22% hit to Australia's economy
  30. Delivery workers are now essential. They deserve the rights of other employees
  31. Give people and businesses money now they can pay back later (if and when they can)
  32. Rushed coronavirus tenancy laws raise as many questions as they answer
  33. 'Whatever it takes' should now include a universal basic income
  34. The case for a rent holiday for businesses on the coronavirus economic frontline
  35. Which jobs are most at risk from the coronavirus shutdown? 
  36. Five principles to follow if your job is to lead your staff through the coronavirus crisis
  37. Coronavirus supplement: your guide to the Australian payments that will go to the extra million on welfare
  38. Working from home: what are your employer's responsibilities, and what are yours?
  39. We're running out of time to use Endgame C to drive coronavirus infections down to zero
  40. 6 strategies to juggle work and young kids at home: it's about flexibility and boundaries
  41. It'd be a mistake to shut financial markets: more than ever, we need them to work
  42. Scalable without limit: how the government plans to get coronavirus support into our hands quickly
  43. Coronavirus infecting Australian jobs: vacancy rates down since early February
  44. The case for Endgame C: stop almost everything, restart when coronavirus is gone
  45. Price-level targeting: how inflation-focused central banks can squeeze more from interest rates
  46. Once the pandemic is over, we will return to a very different airline industry
  47. The other Indigenous coronavirus crisis: disappearing income from art
  48. More than a rate cut: behind the Reserve Bank's three point plan
  49. Social distancing may be worth it, but we need to talk about economic costs
  50. How super could soften the financial blow of coronavirus