Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
How can anybody value the economy above human life? Should we be willing to halt economic progress if it saves just one life? Well, as Ron finds out, the "economy" is just the name we used to describe the actions of millions of human beings, producing and trading goods & services with each other.
All of our lives DEPEND upon the economy.
When people aren’t allowed to work and produce, they’re made poorer, unhealthier, and unhappier. Also, slowing down production has major consequences, like rising rates of global and domestic food insecurity. In this sense, lockdowns may be causing more deaths than they’re preventing. If that’s the case, we should end them to save lives.
______________________________
CREDITS:
Written by Seamus Coughlin, Tyler Brandt, and Sean W. Malone
Animated by Seamus Coughlin
Produced & Edited by Sean W. Malone
______________________________
LINKS:
https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/reports/ipr-rapid-research-reports-pulse-hh-data-10-june-2020.pdf
foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2020/04/09/Coronavirus-hit-food-industry-faced-with-packaging-shortages
cnbc.com/2020/09/16/yelp-data-shows-60percent-of-business-closures-due-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-now-permanent.html
politico.com/news/2020/08/13/cdc-mental-health-pandemic-394832
https://www.bu.edu/sph/2020/09/02/covid-has-likely-tripled-depression-rates-in-the-us/
wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-has-thrown-around-100-million-people-into-extreme-poverty-world-bank-estimates-11602086400
fee.org/articles/economic-lockdowns-kill-people-yes-literally
fee.org/articles/a-years-worth-of-suicide-attempts-in-four-weeks-the-unintended-consequences-of-covid-19-lockdowns
fee.org/articles/4-life-threatening-unintended-consequences-of-the-lockdowns (edited)
How can anybody value the economy above human life? Should we be willing to halt economic progress if it saves just one life? Well, as Ron finds out, the "economy" is just the name we used to describe the actions of millions of human beings, producing and trading goods & services with each other.
All of our lives DEPEND upon the economy.
When people aren’t allowed to work and produce, they’re made poorer, unhealthier, and unhappier. Also, slowing down production has major consequences, like rising rates of global and domestic food insecurity. In this sense, lockdowns may be causing more deaths than they’re preventing. If that’s the case, we should end them to save lives.
______________________________
CREDITS:
Written by Seamus Coughlin, Tyler Brandt, and Sean W. Malone
Animated by Seamus Coughlin
Produced & Edited by Sean W. Malone
______________________________
LINKS:
https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/reports/ipr-rapid-research-reports-pulse-hh-data-10-june-2020.pdf
foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2020/04/09/Coronavirus-hit-food-industry-faced-with-packaging-shortages
cnbc.com/2020/09/16/yelp-data-shows-60percent-of-business-closures-due-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-now-permanent.html
politico.com/news/2020/08/13/cdc-mental-health-pandemic-394832
https://www.bu.edu/sph/2020/09/02/covid-has-likely-tripled-depression-rates-in-the-us/
wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-has-thrown-around-100-million-people-into-extreme-poverty-world-bank-estimates-11602086400
fee.org/articles/economic-lockdowns-kill-people-yes-literally
fee.org/articles/a-years-worth-of-suicide-attempts-in-four-weeks-the-unintended-consequences-of-covid-19-lockdowns
fee.org/articles/4-life-threatening-unintended-consequences-of-the-lockdowns (edited)
