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Hiding the Elephant: The Tragedy of COVID Policy and Its Economist Apologists

Author

Listed:
  • Foster, Gigi

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Frijters, Paul

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract
In 2020 and 2021, the world witnessed policies that caused enormous net damage to nearly every country. We demonstrate the usefulness of the new WELLBY currency in gauging the costs and benefits of COVID policies and review the contributions of Australian economists to the scholarly and public debates about these policies. Our analysis documents the value of what was destroyed, the weak resistance mounted by the Australian economics profession during this period, and the role played by many Australian economists as apologists for Australia's most catastrophic peacetime economic policy failure. We close with ideas for working towards a better future.

Suggested Citation

  • Foster, Gigi & Frijters, Paul, 2022. "Hiding the Elephant: The Tragedy of COVID Policy and Its Economist Apologists," IZA Discussion Papers 15294, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15294
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chris Edmond & Richard Holden & Bruce Preston, 2020. "Should We Worry about Government Debt? Thoughts on Australia's COVID‐19 Response," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(4), pages 557-565, December.
    2. Gordon B Dahl & Christina Felfe & Paul Frijters & Helmut Rainer, 2022. "Caught between Cultures: Unintended Consequences of Improving Opportunity for Immigrant Girls," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2491-2528.
    3. Ferreira,Francisco H. G. & Sterck,Olivier Christian Brigitte & Mahler,Daniel Gerszon & Decerf,Benoit Marie A, 2021. "Death and Destitution : The Global Distribution of Welfare Losses from the COVID-19 Pandemic," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9673, The World Bank.
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    7. Erik Lindqvist & Robert Östling & David Cesarini, 2020. "Long-Run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-Being," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(6), pages 2703-2726.
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    10. Tom Kompas & R Quentin Grafton & Tuong Nhu Che & Long Chu & James Camac, 2021. "Health and economic costs of early and delayed suppression and the unmitigated spread of COVID-19: The case of Australia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, June.
    11. Leonora Risse & Angela Jackson, 2021. "A gender lens on the workforce impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 24(2), pages 111-144.
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    Cited by:

    1. Markus Brueckner, 2024. "Introduction to special issue: The economics of catastrophes," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 1-4, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; economics profession; WELLBY; welfare; health policy; Australia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists

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