In the short run, flattening the infection curve inevitably steepens the economic recession curve, writes Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas of UC Berkeley Across the world, countries are aiming to flatten the curve of Covid-19 cases in order to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
Simply put, they are trying to slow down the virus’s spread so that fewer people need to seek treatment at any given time. But this has a side effect.
In the short run, flattening the infection curve inevitably steepens the economic recession curve, writes Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas of UC Berkeley.
Strict social distancing measures imposed to flatten the infection curve, for instance, requires educational institutions and non-essential businesses to be shut or work at half