A group of leading Australian economists have released a statement commending Australian governments’ response to the COVID-19 crisis. Earlier in the crisis, they issued an open letter that urged Australian governments not to relax social distancing measures too soon on a false distinction that there was a trade-off between the public health and economic aspects of the crisis.

In April 2020, we, the undersigned economists, argued that Australia could not have a functioning economy unless we first comprehensively addressed the public health crisis. We argued in support of a strategy that, absent a vaccine, keeps social-distancing measures in place until the number of infections is very low, our testing capacity is greatly expanded, and widespread contact tracing is available.

We believe that experience since April has shown that the strategy adopted by Australian governments was broadly correct.

Countries that failed to introduce restrictions and other preventative measures in time to stop the spread of the pandemic, or that lifted restrictions prematurely, have experienced both higher fatalities and higher economic costs than those that took firm, decisive action.

Because Australian governments took firm action, and the virus is now better understood, we now have open to us a wider range of policy options to deal with localised outbreaks. This also creates space for debate about the appropriate response to those local outbreaks and the best path to achieve both effective elimination and economic recovery.

Signed,

  • Alison Booth—Professor of Economics, Australian National University
  • Jeff Borland—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • Lisa Cameron—Professorial Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne
  • Efrem Castelnuovo—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • Deborah Cobb-Clark—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney
  • Ashley Craig—Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
  • Chris Edmond—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • Nisvan Erkal—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • John Freebairn—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • Renée Fry-McKibbin—Professor of Economics, Australian National University
  • Joshua Gans—Professor of Strategic Management, University of Toronto
  • Jacob Goeree—Scientia Professor and Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School
  • Simon Grant —Professor of Economics, Australian National University
  • Pauline Grosjean—Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School
  • Jane Hall—Distinguished Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney
  • Steven Hamilton—Assistant Professor of Economics, The George Washington University
  • Ian Harper—Dean and Director, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne
  • Richard Holden—Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School
  • David Johnston—Professor, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University
  • Flavio Menezes—Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland
  • Warwick McKibbin—Professor of Economics, Australian National University
  • Simon Mongey—Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
  • James Morley—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney
  • Joseph Mullins—Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota
  • A. Abigail Payne— Professor and Director, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne
  • Bruce Preston—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • Sue Richardson—Emeritus Professor of Economics, Flinders University
  • Stefanie Schurer—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney
  • Kalvinder Shields—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • John Quiggin—Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland
  • Simon Quinn—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
  • James Vickery—Senior Economic Advisor and Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
  • Tom Wilkening—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
  • Justin Wolfers —Professor of Economics and Professor of Public Policy, University of Michigan
  • Yves Zenou—Professor of Economics, Monash University

Comments are closed.