We need a coordinated plan of action from recognized medical and economic experts.

On the coronavirus front, I'd say it would be good to have a coordinated presentation from recognized experts: both medical experts (e.g. Tony Fauci) and economic experts (e.g. Paul Krugman). Together, they would to lay out a unified plan for dealing with the c-virus that addresses both concerns.

Also, since we have examples of where the c-virus has been turned back (e.g. South Korea), economists should be in a position to see how long they were in lockdown and what it would take to get their economy back to work.

My sense is that what's required on the economic front should be divided into two phases:

1) What's required during the lockdown. In this phase, you don't want to stimulate the economy in a general sense (i.e. you don't want people to go out to bars, movies, and other venues that are not consistent with a lockdown). Instead, you want disaster-style relief.

2) What's required after the lockdown (i.e. while the lockdown is being phased out and the number of new c-virus cases are becoming minimal). Here, you do want healthy people to start to go back to work. But, you may still want to have vulnerable people (e.g. over 60 and/or with conditions that put them at risk) stay at home.


As for Trump, my guess is that he's making major changes to his campaign plans to make it look (at least) as if he's the one who's saved the economy and "done the right thing" on the medical front.

Here are some references from medical experts and economic experts. My hope is that they find a way to coordinate their messages/plans. I've also provided a reference on what Trump's team is up to.

References

--------------------------------
Center for Budget Policy Priorities

Immediate and Robust Policy Response Needed in Face of Grave Risks to the Economy
by the Center for Budget Policy Priorities
Sharon Parrott, Aviva Aron-Dine, Michael Leachman, Chad Stone, Dottie Rosenbaum, Ladonna Pavetti, Peggy Bailey, Chuch Marr, Kathleen Romig

3/19/2020

https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/immediate-and-robust-policy-response-needed-in-face-of-grave-risks-to-the-economy


-----------------------------------
Emanuel, Ezekiel


Fourteen Days. That’s the Most Time We Have to Defeat Coronavirus.
These decisive measures can prevent a decade of dislocation and extraordinary levels of deaths.
By Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Dr. Emanuel is vice provost of global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania.
March 23, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/contributors/us-coronavirus-response.html


--------------------------------
Katz, David

Is Our Fight Against Coronavirus Worse Than the Disease?
There may be more targeted ways to beat the pandemic.

By David L. Katz
Dr. Katz is president of True Health Initiative and the founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center.

March 20, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/opinion/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing.html

"""
We routinely differentiate between two kinds of military action: the inevitable carnage and collateral damage of diffuse hostilities, and the precision of a “surgical strike,” methodically targeted to the sources of our particular peril. The latter, when executed well, minimizes resources and unintended consequences alike.

As we battle the coronavirus pandemic, and heads of state declare that we are “at war” with this contagion, the same dichotomy applies. This can be open war, with all the fallout that portends, or it could be something more surgical. The United States and much of the world so far have gone in for the former. I write now with a sense of urgency to make sure we consider the surgical approach, while there is still time.

Outbreaks tend to be isolated when pathogens move through water or food, and of greater scope when they travel by widespread vectors like fleas, mosquitoes or the air itself. Like the coronavirus pandemic, the infamous flu pandemic of 1918 was caused by viral particles transmitted by coughing and sneezing. Pandemics occur when an entire population is vulnerable — that is, not immune — to a given pathogen capable of efficiently spreading itself.

Immunity occurs when our immune system has developed antibodies against a germ, either naturally or as a result of a vaccine, and is fully prepared should exposure recur. The immune system response is so robust that the invading germ is eradicated before symptomatic disease can develop.
"""


FMB: Katz was interviewed by the PBS Newshour on 3/23/202 and the interview was played on 3/24/2020. Also on 3/24/2020, Trump was in a Fox News sponsored event where he stated that he wanted to set Easter (April 12th) as the data when the US would open back up for business (i.e. start bringing people out of isolation). According to the Newhour, after Trumps statement, Katz tweeted: "The decision about when to return must be data driven. An arbitrary 'back-to-business' dead line is dangerous folly."

FMB: In addition, the PBS Newshour also interviewed a leading epidemiologist, Marc Lipsitch, who sharply criticized the proposal put forward by David Katz. I'll try to find the text of his interview, or an article where he expresses his counter-arguments to Katz. If I do, I'll post it in the reference section here.

FMB: Also see the letter to the NYT by Yale Health Experts Sten H. Vermund et. al. Their letter also takes issue with the proposal put forward by David Katz.

--------------------------------
Krugman, Paul

Republicans Add Insult to Illness
Greed, germs and the art of no deal.
By Paul Krugman
March 23, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/republicans-coronavirus.html


--------------------------------
Kumar, Anita

Trump works to rewrite narrative on coronavirus response
The president’s team is working to quickly blunt criticism of his handling of the outbreak.
by Anita Kumar
3/24/2020

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/24/trump-coronavirus-campaign-reelection-145007


---------------------------------
Lazear, Edward

Economic Stimulus Is the Wrong Prescription
We need liquidity to help businesses and individuals get through this necessarily tough time.
By Edward P. Lazear
Mr. Lazear led the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2006 to 2009.

3/24/2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/opinion/coronavirus-stimulus-economy-liquidity.html


-------------------------------
Lipsitch, Marc

We know enough now to act decisively against Covid-19. Social distancing is a good place to start
By Marc Lipsitch
March 18, 2020

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/18/we-know-enough-now-to-act-decisively-against-covid-19/

"""
We know enough to act; indeed, there is an imperative to act strongly and swiftly. It is true that we can’t be sure either how many infections there have been in any population or the risk of needing intensive care or the case fatality rate. These uncertainties are two sides of the same coin. Nonetheless, two things are clear.

First, the number of severe cases — the product of these two unknowns — becomes fearsome in country after country if the infection is allowed to spread.
...
Second, if we don’t apply control measures, the number of cases will keep going up exponentially beyond the already fearsome numbers we have seen.
"""

FMB: See discussion of PBS Newshour interview with Lipsitch and David Katz in the reference to the article written by Katz above.

--------------------------------
McNeil, Donald


The Virus Can Be Stopped, but Only With Harsh Steps, Experts Say

Scientists who have fought pandemics describe difficult measures needed to defend the United States against a fast-moving pathogen.
by Donald G. McNeil Jr.
3/22/2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/health/coronavirus-restrictions-us.html

----------------------------
Hausmann, Ricado

Flattening the COVID-19 Curve in Developing Countries
Ricardo Hausmann
Mar 24, 2020

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/flattening-covid19-curve-in-developing-countries-by-ricardo-hausmann-2020-03

"""
The more contained you want the novel coronavirus to be, the more you will need to lock down your country – and the more fiscal space you will require to mitigate the deeper recession that will result. The problem for most of the Global South is that policymakers lack fiscal space even in the best of times.
"""


FMB:

The developed countries of the world also need to summon the will to help developing nations flatten their COVID-19 curve. Also, doing the right thing here is actually the smartest thing to do. From the perspective of our own self-interest, we don't want the world's economy to crash.

Unlike the US, developing countries cannot use their central bank to deal with the immediate crisis and the recovery that's to follow. Money is already flowing out of these countries to the relative safety of the US dollar. If they try quantitative easing, then their currency will collapse, too.

This article explains what developed countries need to do to help save developing nations as well as the world's economy in this time of crisis.

-----------------------------------
Vermund, Sten


The Wrong Way to Fight Coronavirus

Yale health experts take strong issue with an Op-Ed essay that suggested letting the virus run its course.

Sten H. Vermund, Gregg Gonsalves, Becca Levy, Saad Omer


March 23, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/letters/coronavirus-quarantine.html

"""
We take issue with Dr. David L. Katz’s suggestion that the global community is overreacting to Covid-19. He favors letting the pandemic run its course, but somehow “walling off” the most vulnerable. He argues that his strategy would preserve the global economy, while stemming deaths from Covid-19. We disagree.

First, it is not yet known who all of the most vulnerable people are.
...
Second, it is likely that more intense transmission among younger people, who Dr. Katz suggests should be freed of most social-distancing restrictions, would result in many more of their deaths, especially as hospitals become overwhelmed.
...
Third, allowing the virus to spread uninhibited across a wide swath of our country might eliminate any hope we might have of snuffing out viral transmission into a new respiratory virus season next winter.
"""

FMB: See reference to the David Katz article above.