Hiding the elephant: the tragedy of COVID policy and its economist apologists

Gigi Foster and Paul Frijters

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: In 2020 and 2021, the world witnessed policies that caused enormous net damage to most countries. 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 what we view as Australia's most catastrophic peacetime economic policy failure. We close with ideas for working towards a better future.

Keywords: Australia; Covid-19; economics profession; health policy; welfare; WELLBY; coronavirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A11 I31 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2024-03-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-hpe and nep-sog
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Australian Economic Papers, 6, March, 2024, 63(1), pp. 106 - 144. ISSN: 0004-900X

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Related works:
Journal Article: Hiding the elephant: The tragedy of COVID policy and its economist apologists (2024)
Working Paper: Hiding the Elephant: The Tragedy of COVID Policy and Its Economist Apologists (2022)
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