{"id":12869,"date":"2021-06-25T15:02:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T14:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/?post_type=question&p=12869"},"modified":"2021-06-25T15:02:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T14:02:28","slug":"twenty-twenties-vision","status":"publish","type":"question","link":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/twenty-twenties-vision","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-twenties vision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Covid-19 restrictions are now due to lift in England on 19 July 2021, and then in Scotland three weeks later. While new variants and rising case numbers could still derail these timelines (as has happened with several previous schedules), some are asking whether it is time that we \u2018learn to live\u2019 with the virus<\/a>, allowing entertainment venues to re-open their doors at maximum capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For others, the threat of more cases, hospitalisations and deaths isn\u2019t a risk worth taking to bring back festivals, sporting events and nightclubs \u2013 particularly while the number of cases of the Delta variant continues to grow. But the reality of this trade-off is more complex, as many people\u2019s ability to make ends meet will depend on large-scale events coming back this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This balance between protecting lives and livelihoods has been at the heart of policy-makers\u2019 decisions since the start of the pandemic. But as highlighted by Paul Dolan and Christian Krekel (both London School of Economics) in a new piece on the Economics Observatory<\/a> this week, wider considerations of wellbeing also need to be taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lockdowns and social restrictions that have sheltered us from the virus have had unintended consequences \u2013 from delaying operations and other crucial medical procedures to increasing loneliness and financial difficulties. Christian and Paul call for evaluations of policy that would uncover some of these hidden effects. Measures that capture length of life, quality of life and wellbeing may provide a more rounded picture of how policies, both during the pandemic and in the future, affect people now and in the longer term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roaring Twenties redux?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our wellbeing could certainly get a boost if suggestions of a Roaring Twenties 2.0<\/a> come to fruition post-pandemic. But John Turner (Queen\u2019s University Belfast and one of our lead editors) reminds us that the jazz clubs, technological innovation and growth in new consumer products of the 1920s were only half the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the UK, economic growth averaged around 1.4% a year across the decade, which when compared with the 1950s and 1960s (with growth of over 3% a year) can hardly be described as booming. What\u2019s more, unemployment soared and productivity lagged in the UK throughout the 1920s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1: UK unemployment rate (1855-2016)<\/h4>\n\n\n
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