Trade-offs in choices about how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic

"Containment, after all, has costs for people’s well-being too: It deprives them of jobs and income as travel is curtailed, events are called off, and restaurants and other businesses empty out in ways that don’t happen with the flu" (WSJ, March 2020).

The author of the opinion understands some economics.He points out that efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 have opportunity costs. "Ministers and officials [in the UK] are considering the trade-off between allowing an acute outbreak, from which the economy would rebound more quickly, or trying to save more lives by imposing restrictions on mass gatherings and transport.'” He calls the discussion of the tradeoff an important debate.