How Much Are We Spending To Prevent One COVID-19 Death — Millions, Billions, Trillions? Nobody Knows

[Geee]

Issues & Insights

That was Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, arguing for stretching the economically catastrophic lockdowns into the foreseeable future. Never mind that more than 105,000 abortions were performed in New York in 2017 alone, at an average cost of about $600. Clearly, human life is not priceless. 

In a world where resources are limited and everything involves a tradeoff, we are constantly making decisions that put a value on human lives. Federal regulators have even set an amount for what’s called the “value of a statistical life.” During the Obama administration, the EPA put that value at close to $10 million. Regulations that cost more than that to save one “statistical life” are seen as costing more than they’re worth. 

So, the relevant question is, how much are we spending in an attempt to save someone from a COVID-19 induced death, and is it worth it?

As it stands, nobody has a clue.

The only thing we know for sure is that the cost is mind-boggling. One report puts the price tag for the shutdown, now stretching into its third month, at $5.2 trillion. 

Researchers at the University of Wyoming concluded that the shutdown would cost more than $7 trillion, but it was worth it because the value of the lives saved would be more than $12 trillion. 

“Based on this comparison, we find that social distancing policies likely do not constitute an overreaction to COVID-19,” the authors wrote. Their findings attracted widespread media attention.