China, where the virus first leaped into the human population, has quarantined large sections of the country, virtually shutting down economic activity.
As the virus spreads, officials contemplate stricter measures.
These include banning public gatherings such as concerts, movies, and sports events; advising businesses to keep workers home; or even shutting down firms where the virus is detected.
Those are human costs that must be measured against the inevitable cost of the virus itself.
The problem: no easy ways exist to balance the economic cost of efforts to contain the virus with the toll that the virus itself takes on society.
In the U.S., we've been fortunate so far, in part because of our distance from the initial outbreak and in part because of how early measures, like banning flights from China, have slowed the progress of the virus here.
It's tempting to see such bans as the safest route to take in an emergency-and in some circumstances, they may be-but we can't ignore the human cost of a widespread economic shutdown.
https://www.city-journal.org/coronavirus-and-the-economy
As the virus spreads, officials contemplate stricter measures.
These include banning public gatherings such as concerts, movies, and sports events; advising businesses to keep workers home; or even shutting down firms where the virus is detected.
Those are human costs that must be measured against the inevitable cost of the virus itself.
The problem: no easy ways exist to balance the economic cost of efforts to contain the virus with the toll that the virus itself takes on society.
In the U.S., we've been fortunate so far, in part because of our distance from the initial outbreak and in part because of how early measures, like banning flights from China, have slowed the progress of the virus here.
It's tempting to see such bans as the safest route to take in an emergency-and in some circumstances, they may be-but we can't ignore the human cost of a widespread economic shutdown.
https://www.city-journal.org/coronavirus-and-the-economy
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