Lives v livelihoods, part 2: suppression or control?

Limiting the length of lockdown is key to minimising the damage the pandemic inflicts on livelihoods. Matthew Adler (Duke University/LSE), Richard Bradley (LSE), Maddalena Ferranna (Princeton), Marc Fleurbaey (Princeton and Paris School of Economics), James Hammitt (Harvard) and Alex Voorhoeve (LSE) compare the benefit-cost and social welfare approaches to doing so. They find early suppression is often best, if it can be ensured that those on lower incomes bear a smaller share of the economic burden of lockdown.