The COVID-19 pandemic and the $16 trillion virus
Open accessAbstract
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the $16 Trillion VirusThe SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic is the greatest threat to prosperity and well-being the US has encountered since the Great Depression.This Viewpoint aggregates mortality, morbidity, mental health conditions, and direct economic losses to estimate the total cost of the pandemic in the US on the optimistic assumption that it will be substantially contained by the fall of 2021.These costs far exceed those associated with conventional recessions and the Iraq War, and are similar to those associated with global climate change.However, increased investment in testing and contact tracing could have economic benefits that are at least 30 times greater than the estimated costs of the investment in these approaches.Since the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in March, 60 million claims have been filed for unemployment insurance.Before COVID-19, the greatest number of weekly new unemployment insurance claims (based on data from 1967 on) was 695 000 in the week of October 2, 1982.For 20 weeks beginning in late March 2020, new unemployment claims exceeded 1 million per week; as of September 20, new claims have been just below that amount.
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The cost of mental illnesses makes a major contribution in Cutler and Summers' assessment of the economic consequences of COVID-19 in the US.
“The cost of mental illnesses makes a major contribution in Cutler and Summers’ assessment of the economic consequences of COVID-19 in the US.93”
From Global health 2050: the path to halving premature death by mid-century (2024) · cites this paper as [93]
Cutler and Summers estimated a loss of $16 trillion over a 10-year period for the US, of which about $7.5 trillion was in GDP loss.
“in an early assessment of the economic consequences of the pandemic for the US, Cutler and Summers estimated a loss of $16 trillion over a 10-year period, of which about $7.5 trillion was in GDP loss.93”
From Global health 2050: the path to halving premature death by mid-century (2024) · cites this paper as [93]
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- Authors
- Cutler, D. M., & Summers, L. H.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cutler, David M.
- ORCID
- Cutler, David M.
- Venue
- JAMA
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2020-10-20
- Volume
- 324
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 1495
- ISSN
- 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
- 0098-7484
- PMC
- PMC7604733
- OpenAlex
- W3091955191
- Cited by
- 810
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 66 · 2024: 121 · 2023: 136 · 2022: 195 · 2021: 216 · 2020: 39
- FWCI
- 124.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- JAMA (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (P01AG005842)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, economic costs of pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, unemployment insurance claims, economic losses, morbidity and mortality, mental health, contact tracing
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Preventive Health Services, United States, Public Health Practice, Health Care Costs, Cost of Illness, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics
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