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Surprised by how many people respond to arguments about lockdowns by arguing that recessions save lives. They always draw on the same work by Ruhm noting macro-level correlations between mortality and recessions.
This is sophistry; here's why. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00210-0
This is sophistry; here's why. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00210-0
Ruhm is analyzing secular trends--not sudden events. Latter is what's relevant here & studies that address it reach opp conclusion. Eg: "participants who experienced a negative wealth shock...had a significantly increased risk of mortality." https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2018.2055
Other studies find same:
"job loss increases...risk of overall mortality and mortality caused by circulatory disease;...suicide and suicide attempts;...death and hospitalization due to traffic accidents, alcohol-related disease, and mental illness." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167629612000276
"job loss increases...risk of overall mortality and mortality caused by circulatory disease;...suicide and suicide attempts;...death and hospitalization due to traffic accidents, alcohol-related disease, and mental illness." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167629612000276
"for high-seniority male workers, mortality rates in the year after displacement are 50%–100% higher than would otherwise have been expected"
https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/124/3/1265/1905153
https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/124/3/1265/1905153
