Costs of Covid Shutdowns // John Hinderaker

Early in the covid epidemic, it was clear that lockdowns had potential benefits but were only speculative and hypothetical. However, the costs were substantial and unavoidable. These costs can now be quantified after the dust has settled.

My staff has produced two papers on the cost of Minnesota’s covid shutdowns. Although their analyses are state-specific it is reasonable to assume that their findings will be replicated in other states depending on the severity and duration of shutdowns.

Part 1 was written by economists John Phelan & Martha Njolomole. To isolate the impact of more severe covid shutdowns on state economies, they performed a multi-factor regression analysis. They used the week-by-week severity index, which was created by Oxford University scholars. It controlled for the rate and tax policies of covid infection, as well as the extent to the state’s economy depends on tourism and hospitality.

They concluded that the decrease in GDP growth during the covid era is negatively related to shutdown stringency. An average household of four in Minnesota lost approximately $7,500 in GDP due to Minnesota’s lockdown from May 2021.

Part Two is a report by Catrin Wigfall that examines the effects of Minnesota’s school closings on children’s education. She doesn’t focus on the school closings’ effects on mental health, socialization and so forth. Instead, she focuses on academic achievement. She concludes that the state’s teachers union forced covid shut downs which hampered the educational progress of Minnesota students.

This chart shows the story: math and reading performance plummeted after schools closed, and they have not recovered. It’s still terrible.

This chart is prominently featured in Dr. Scott Jensen’s campaign for governor. The most shocking statistic is that only 36% of Minnesota’s 11th-graders can do math at grade level. This is a very low bar. This is not due to covid shut downs. For a long time, the state’s public schools were in bad shape. The problem was exacerbated by the closing of schools.

You can find more information at the following links.

Is there ever going to be an accounting of the damage done by covid hypertrophy on the part government officials? Maybe, but only to a limited extent. Tim Walz, our governor, was a covid Nazi and took pride in inflicting maximum destruction on his state. He is now behind in the latest poll and I believe he will lose to Jensen. Jensen has been an outspoken critic for Walz’s covid shutdowns that began in 2020. We will see if the same happens in other states. Gretchen Whitmer is in a tight race to re-elect her husband. But I don’t know how much of that has to do her covid policies as opposed to the general disdain with which Democrats are held currently.

Governors who resisted the current hysteria and kept their states open, such as Ron DeSantis or Kristi Noem are enjoying easy re-election. Maybe democracy is working as it should.