26th January 2024
Another copy of an Open Letter by 265 PANICKED COWARDS who call themselves economists
These cowards have DELETED their Open Letter from the internet. Very fortunately, an archival copy remains. [Also this, on archive.org]
Just in case they manage to delete the archival copy, I’m making another copy here:
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An Open Letter from Australian Economists on Tradeoffs During the COVID-19 Crisis
Corresponding authors:
Chris Edmond (cedmond@unimelb.edu.au)
Steven Hamilton (steven_hamilton@gwu.edu)
Richard Holden (richard.holden@unsw.edu.au)
Bruce Preston (bruce.preston@unimelb.edu.au)
Please click here to sign. The views expressed are those of the signatories and not necessarily those of their employer.
19 April 2020
Dear Prime Minister and Members of the National Cabinet:
The undersigned economists have witnessed and participated in the public debate about when to relax social-distancing measures in Australia. Some commentators have expressed the view that there is a trade-off between the public health and economic aspects of the crisis. We, as economists, believe this is a false distinction.
We cannot have a functioning economy unless we first comprehensively address the public health crisis. The measures put in place in Australia, at the border and within the states and territories, have reduced the number of new infections. This has put Australia in an enviable position compared to other countries, and we must not squander that success.
We recognise that the measures taken to date have come at a cost to economic activity and jobs, but believe these are far outweighed by the lives saved and the avoided economic damage due to an unmitigated contagion. We believe that strong fiscal measures are a much better way to offset these economic costs than prematurely loosening restrictions.
As has been foreshadowed in your public remarks, our borders will need to remain under tight control for an extended period. It is vital to keep social-distancing measures in place until the number of infections is very low, our testing capacity is expanded well beyond its already comparatively high level, and widespread contact tracing is available.
A second-wave outbreak would be extremely damaging to the economy, in addition to involving tragic and unnecessary loss of life.
Sincerely,
| 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 | |
| Quentin Grafton—Professor of Economics, Australian National University | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Alfredo Paloyo—Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong | |
| Pei Cheng Yu—Lecturer, University of New South Wales | |
| Isa Hafalir—Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Emil Temnyalov—Senior Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Hongyi Li—Senior Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| Christopher Gibbs—Senior Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Gordon Menzies—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Viet Nguyen—Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Aarti Singh—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Silvia Mendolia—Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong | |
| Andrew John—Associate Professor of Economics, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne | |
| Akshay Shanker—Research Fellow, UNSW Business School | |
| Yusuf Mercan—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Mei Dong—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Tim Robinson—Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Ross Hickey—Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Onur Kesten—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Mengheng Li—Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Peter Siminski—Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Guay Lim—Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Ian McDonald—Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| David P. Byrne—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Arpita Chatterjee —Senior Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| Tomasz Wozniak—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Mehmet Ozmen—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Michael Coelli—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Trung Duc Tran—Research Fellow, The University of Sydney | |
| Siqi Pan—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Joshua B. Miller—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Xueyuan Wu—Associate Professor of Actuarial Studies, University of Melbourne | |
| Leslie Martin—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Trung Duc Tran—Research Fellow, The University of Sydney | |
| Sandy Suardi—Professor of Economics, University of Wollongong | |
| Yong Song—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Olena Stavrunova—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Robert Dixon—Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne | |
| Tom Kompas—Professor of Environmental Economics and Biosecurity, University of Melbourne | |
| Alexandru Nichifor—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Kevin Fox—Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Peter Lloyd—Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Andrew Clarke—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Hayley Fisher—Senior Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Garry Barrett—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Alberto Motta—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Oleg Yerokhin—Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong | |
| Anton Kolotilin—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Kristle Romero Cortés—Senior Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| John Romalis—Sir Hermann Black Chair of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Keiichi Kawai—Senior Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| May Li—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| John Tang—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Victoria Baranov—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Shuping Shi—Professor of Economics, Macquarie University | |
| Mariano Kulish—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Frank Neri—Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong | |
| Lionel Page—Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Lawrence Uren—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Alastair Fraser—Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Gautam Bose—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Darla Hatton MacDonald—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Tasmania | |
| Jorge Miranda-Pinto—Lecturer, The University of Queensland | |
| Pedro Gomis-Porqueras—Professor of Economics, Deakin University | |
| Sephorah Mangin—Senior Lecturer, Australian National University | |
| Begoña Dominguez—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Isabella Dbrescu—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Faisal Sohail—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Nicolas de Roos—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Andrew Wait—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Shuanming Li—Professor of Actuarial Studies, University of Melbourne | |
| Kevin Staub—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Ivan Balbuzanov—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Nahid Khan—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Francesco Carli—Senior Lecturer, Deakin University | |
| Giovanni Caggiano—Associate Professor, Monash University | |
| Wenying Yao—Senior Lecturer, Deakin University | |
| Sam Tsiaplias—Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, The University of Melbourne | |
| Laura Puzzello—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Ayushi Bajaj—Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Benjamin Wong—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Marco Faravelli—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Denni Tommasi—Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Bin Peng—Senior Lecturer, Deakin University | |
| Reshad Ahsan—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Heather Anderson—Professor of Economics and Econometrics, Monash University | |
| Satoshi Tanaka—Senior Lecturer, University of Queensland | |
| Dan Zhu—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Farshid Vahid-Araghi—Professor of Econometrics, Monash University | |
| Richard J Smith—Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne | |
| Jiti Gao—Donald Cochrane Chair of Business and Economics and Professor of Econometrics, Monash University | |
| Qingyuan Du—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Laura Panza—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Tim Moore—Associate Professor of Economics, Purdue University | |
| Peter Sivey—Associate Professor of Economics, RMIT University | |
| Federico Masera—Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| Elif Incekara Hafalir—Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Maria Recalde—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Lata Gangadharan—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Fabrizio Carmignani—Professor of Economics, Griffith University | |
| Eik Swee—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Jiao Wang—Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Leo Simon—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Sarah Walker—Senior Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| Robin Stonecash—Dean, School of Business and Tourism, Southern Cross University | |
| Ryan Edwards—Fellow and Deputy Director, Australian National University | |
| Leonora Risse—Lecturer, RMIT University | |
| Timothy Kam—Associate Professor of Economics, Australian National University | |
| Jonathan Thong—Sessional Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Terence Cheng—Senior Lecturer, The University of Adelaide | |
| Wylie Bradford—Associate Professor of Economics, Macquarie University | |
| David Ubilava—Senior Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Chung Tran—Associate Professor of Economics, Australian National University | |
| Andres Bellofatto—Lecturer, The University of Queensland | |
| Solmaz Moslehi—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Chengsi Wang—Senior Lecturer , Monash University | |
| Jenny Lye—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Carsten Murawski—Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne | |
| Juan Carlos Carbajal—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Rhonda Smith—Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Joe Hirschberg—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Rebecca Taylor—Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Stella Huangfu—Senior Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Jim Stanford—Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work | |
| Satoshi Yamazaki—Senior Lecturer, University of Tasmania | |
| Isaac Gross—Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Mike Berry —Emeritus Professor, RMIT University | |
| Asad Islam—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Hasin Yousaf—Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| Kenan Kalaycı—Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland | |
| Adam Loch—Senior Lecturer, The University of Adelaide | |
| Wang-Sheng Lee—Associate Professor of Economics, Deakin University | |
| Agnieszka Tymula—Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Rodney Strachan—Professor of Econometrics, The University of Queensland | |
| Alison Pennington—Senior Economist, Centre for Future Work | |
| Julian Alston—Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis | |
| Brian Parker—Chief Economist, Sunsuper | |
| Jing Tian—Senior Lecturer, University of Tasmania | |
| Natalia Bailey—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Hoa Nguyen—Senior Lecturer, Australian National University | |
| Margaret McKenzie—Economist, Australian Council of Trade Unions | |
| Warren Hogan—Industry Professor, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Anthony Scott—Professor, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Shirley Jackson—Economist, Per Capita | |
| John de New—Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Steven Williams—Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Alicia Rambaldi—Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Yuting Zhang—Professor of Health Economics , University of Melbourne | |
| Nobu Yamashita—Senior Lecturer, RMIT University | |
| Jongsay Yong—Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne | |
| Tim Coelli—Adjunct Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Jan Kabatek—Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Susan Mendez—Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Guyonne Kalb—Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne | |
| Sisira Jayasuriya—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Chris O’Donnell—Professor of Econometrics, The University of Queensland | |
| Ping Chen—Senior Lecturer of Actuarial Studies, University of Melbourne | |
| Toan Nguyen—Research Associate, Curtin University | |
| Pramod (Raja) Junankar—Adjunct Professor, UNSW Canberra | |
| Joanne Flavel—Senior Research Officer, Flinders University | |
| John Roberts—Scientia Professor, UNSW Business School | |
| Jayatilleke Bandaralage—Professor of Economics, Griffith University | |
| Premachnadra Athukorala—Professor of Economics, Australian National University | |
| Sascha Becker—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Andrew McLennan—Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Budy Resosudarmo—Professor of Economics, Australian National University | |
| Renaud Coulomb—Lecturer, University of Melbourne | |
| Nathaniel Lane—Senior Lecturer, Monash University and SoDa Labs | |
| Paul Raschky—Associate Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Ummul Ruthbah—Senior Research Fellow, Monash University | |
| Nicole Black—Associate Professor, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University | |
| Martine Mariotti—Senior Lecturer, Australian National University | |
| Phil Bodman—Professor of Economics & Deputy Executive Dean, The University of Queensland | |
| Valentin Zelenyuk —Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Maria Estela Varua—Associate Professor of Economics, Western Sydney University | |
| Steven Bond-Smith—Research Fellow, Curtin University | |
| Martin Hensher—Associate Professor of Health Systems Financing and Organisation, Deakin University | |
| Sonja de New—Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University | |
| Mehmet Ulubasoglu—Professor of Economics, Deakin University | |
| Arghya Ghosh—Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Pasquale Sgro—Professor of Economics, Deakin University | |
| Stephen Kirchner—Program Director, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney | |
| Prasad Bhattacharya—Senior Lecturer, Deakin University | |
| Michael Shields—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Ian McEwin—Visiting Professor of Law, Australian National University | |
| Carlos Pimienta—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Shashi Karunanethy—Director (Economics), Geografia | |
| Cahit Guven—Senior Lecturer, Deakin University | |
| Rosalie Viney—Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Emilia Tjernström—Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Todd Morris—Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy | |
| Peter Exterkate—Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Tom Miller—Chief Executive Officer, Cambridge Energy Partners | |
| David Cousins—Principal, PI Research Pty. Ltd. | |
| Harry Bloch—Emeritus Professor of Economics, Curtin University | |
| Rosanna Scutella—Senior Research Fellow, RMIT University | |
| Samuel Zhang—Research Fellow, Deakin University | |
| Andrew Partington—Research Fellow, Flinders University & Macquarie University | |
| Alberto Posso—Professor of Economics, RMIT University | |
| Russell Thomson—Associate Professor of Economics, Swinburne University of Technology | |
| Luca Colombo—Associate Professor of Economics, Deakin University | |
| Paola Labrecciosa—Associate Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Tapen Sinha—AXA Chair Professor of Risk Management, ITAM, Mexico | |
| Kelly Trinh—Lecturer, James Cook University | |
| Aaron Blanco—Doctor of Economics, University of Melbourne | |
| Caitlin Brown—Assistant Professor of Economics, Central European University | |
| Scott French—Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| David Delacretaz—Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Oxford | |
| Nicolas Salamanca—Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Maryam Naghsh Nejad—Senior Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Simon Foster—Professor of International Commerce, University of Oxford | |
| Boon Han Koh—Lecturer in Economics, University of East Anglia | |
| Anne Junor—Hon Associate Professor, UNSW Business School | |
| Dominic Meagher—Executive Director, Australasia Strategy Group | |
| Tracey-Lea Laba—Associate Professor, Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Michael Woods—Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Paul Kofman—Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne | |
| Anke Leroux—Senior Lecturer, Monash University | |
| Sang-Wook (Stanley) Cho—Senior Lecturer, UNSW Business School | |
| Marian Vidal-Fernandez—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Brendan Mulhern—Senior Research Fellow in Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Bao Nguyen—Lecturer, University of Tasmania | |
| Omid Mousavi—Economist, Department of Treasury and Finance Victoria | |
| Clement Wong—Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne | |
| Michelle Baddeley—Professor of Economics and Associate Dean Research, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Jerry Courvisanos—Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Federation University Australia | |
| Yunho Cho—Assistant Professor, Jinan Univeristy | |
| Stephanie McWhinnie—Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide | |
| Nathan Kettlewell—Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Benoit Julien—Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School | |
| Joanna Poyago-Theotoky—Professor of Economics, La Trobe University | |
| Jason Zein—Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Business School | |
| Neil Hart—Research Fellow, UNSW Business School | |
| Angeline Panayi-Motus—Senior Economics Teacher, Seymour College, Adelaide SA | |
| Nerina Vecchio—Senior Lecturer, Griffith University | |
| Abbas Valadkhani—Professor of Economics, Swinburne University of Technology | |
| Kadir Atalay—Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Sydney | |
| Anastasia Burkovskaya—Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| Maroš Servátka—Professor of Economics, Macquarie Business School | |
| Ian King—Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland | |
| Haishan Yuan—Lecturer, The University of Queensland | |
| Phong Ngo—Senior Lecturer, Australian National University | |
| Jingjing Zhang—Associate Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney | |
| Le Zhang—Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University | |
| Eugene Lim—Advisor, Planum Partners | |
| Vai-Lam Mui—Associate Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Lisa Gold—Associate Professor of Health Economics, Deakin University | |
| Nikki McCaffrey—Senior Research Fellow, Deakin University | |
| Liam Wagner—Lecturer, Griffith University | |
| Cameron Gordon—Associate Professor of Economics, Australian National University | |
| Caroline Riot—Senior Lecturer, Griffith University | |
| Anthony Harris—Professor of Economics, Monash University | |
| Sarah Dahmann—Research Fellow, The University of Sydney | |
| Jo-Ann Suchard—Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Business School |