, Columnist
America Has Opted for a Bad Recession
The coronavirus dilemma isn’t about lives versus the economy.
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People keep saying that the coronavirus crisis has presented America with a difficult choice: the lives of our parents and grandparents versus the economic well-being of our children. I beg to differ. The real choice is, and has always been, between a sane national strategy for containing the pandemic and economic disaster.
I don’t like getting sick. If you have a bad cold, I’d rather not shake your hand. Similarly, I’ll do a lot to avoid getting Covid-19, even if I’m pretty sure it won’t kill me. As a 45-to-64-year-old, my odds of being hospitalized if infected look to be about 1 in 25.1 No thanks! I’ll pass on getting on a plane or going to a crowded restaurant.