Why do you assume those jobs could be saved? Do you think they would have carried on as normal if the pandemic had been allowed to spread unchecked?

Given the number of people who were working until the lockdowns were announced by the government, and how many customers were still buying nonessential services, I think the majority of those jobs would not have been lost.

I don't think the data supports that assertion. I don't have the link handy, but OpenTable published data showing that in Atlanta at least, restaurant bookings were down ~90% before the stay-at-home order was issued. The situation was similar in many other areas as well.

This is nowhere near as bad as things would be if it was left unchecked.

ignoring the pandemic doesn't work

Allowing it to spread kill many more people and overwhelm our healthcare system would result in a worse economy in the medium term

http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/policy-for-the-covid-19-cr...

Have you accounted for the human suffering caused by the loss of those lives on the survivors? How many jobs is that worth?

Jobs come back. Dead people do not.

This might sound good as a sound bite but offers no thought behind it. One thing that is clear is that we cannot go to extremes on either end.

On one side - we cannot stop the economy to contain the virus, because that would turn into every person having to grow their own food and carry their own water with a bucket from the river. Many many people would also die.

On the other side - we also cannot ignore the pandemic and carry as if nothing is happening because that would over-burden the hospitals to the point that they will not be able to treat people with other issues. Many many people would die as well.

So there indeed has to be a balance. And the question "what price are we willing to pay for saving a life" seems to be on point.

A lack of jobs can create dead people, whether through crime or through an inability to afford healthcare or shelter or food.

I'm not convinced that such deaths outweigh the lives saved through these measures, but they're still worth mentioning if we want a full picture of the impact.

A lot of the jobs that were lost won't come back for years. It's not like we can flip a switch and all the businesses that closed will be open again. The small business economy has been destroyed.

True, but that outlook depends a lot on age, life experience and other factors; a lot of people will agree with you unless it's their own life/family.

Also; por qué no los dos? The USA has enough money and resources (and billionaires) to save the lives + not have the suffering (basic income/welfare). That they choose not to might not be the concern of the people who voted for those things but got Trump; they don't want their lives or loved ones to be chosen over 'jobs/economy' just because the people in power are overly greedy and short-sighted.