[ba2plus]

Short term? No, definitely not. Short-term economic pain was going to happen regardless of policy. Stay open and let the virus spread like wildfire, or shut down and ship helicopter money to people to prevent social unrest - either one brings short-term pain.

But there's absolutely a way to avoid long-term pain: the aforementioned lockdown/helicopter-money plan. Shut down, have everyone not absolutely essential stay isolated as much as humanly possible, provide direct cash payments to individuals or huge wage subsidies tied to mandatory guarantees not to lay anyone off, provide free health care to everyone affected, and enforce internal travel restrictions to keep outbreaks contained. Countries that have gone down this route are now starting to open back up with minimal death tolls and stabilizing economies.

The US, to put it mildly, did not do this. Practically every level of government of all political stripes completely bungled it. Counties screwed up, cities screwed up, states screwed up, legislative and executive federal branches screwed up. It was a hodgepodge of counterproductive idiocy by politicians and officials of all political parties and ideological stripes. And Wall Street & friends aided and abetted this insanity by whining about how a full shutdown early on would "harm the economy".

[throwawaybb2]

> But there's absolutely a way to avoid long-term pain: the aforementioned lockdown/helicopter-money plan. Shut down, have everyone not absolutely essential stay isolated as much as humanly possible, provide direct cash payments to individuals or huge wage subsidies tied to mandatory guarantees not to lay anyone off, provide free health care to everyone affected, and enforce internal travel restrictions to keep outbreaks contained.

I am guessing one of the countries you would be taking about is South Korea? The one that that provided up to 14% of their GDP in subsidies to do the things you listed [0]. This being of course after major money makers declining: international travel (accounts for 4.2% of GDP) and exports (40% of GDP) [0].

It's safe to say some printers are hard at work somewhere. Long term pain solved for government officials not for it's citizens. I would say the same thing about the US as well.

I do agree with your last paragraph highly.

0:https://thediplomat.com/2020/08/covid-19-pushes-south-korea-...

[ba2plus]

Actually, I was thinking of my own country, Canada. There's still occasional small outbreaks, but aside from some limits on large gatherings and some requirements to self-isolate when traveling between certain provinces, things are starting to open back up.

>Long term pain solved for government officials not for it's citizens.

Only financial pain. But that was inevitable as soon as the pandemic hit. Given a choice between financial pain for a few decades, and financial pain for a few decades combined with a potential literal decimation of the population, I'm perfectly fine with the solo financial pain.

[throwawaybb2]

> ...financial pain for a few decades combined with a potential literal decimation of the population, I'm perfectly fine with the solo financial pain

You will be getting decimation of the population with financial pain regardless.