Imperial College London
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ProfessorDavidMiles

Business School

Professor of Financial Economics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 1292d.miles Website CV

 
 
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Assistant

 

Mrs Humayra Jones +44 (0)20 7594 1863

 
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Location

 

4.04a53 Prince's GateSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Miles:2020:10.1017/nie.2020.30,
author = {Miles, D and Stedman, M and Heald, A},
doi = {10.1017/nie.2020.30},
journal = {National Institute Economic Review},
pages = {R60--R76},
title = {Living with COVID-19: Balancing costs against benefits in the face of the virus},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/nie.2020.30},
volume = {253},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - This paper analyses the costs and benefits of lockdown policies in the face of COVID-19. What matters for people is the quality and length of lives and one should measure costs and benefits in terms of those things. That raises difficulties in measurement, particularly in valuing potential lives saved. We draw upon guidelines used in the UK for public health decisions, as well as other measures, which allow a comparison between health effects and other economic effects. We look at evidence on the effectiveness of past severe restrictions applied in European countries, focusing on the evidence from the UK. The paper considers policy options for the degree to which restrictions are eased. There is a need to normalise how we view COVID because its costs and risks are comparable to other health problems (such as cancer, heart problems, diabetes) where governments have made resource decisions for decades. The lockdown is a public health policy and we have valued its impact using the tools that guide health care decisions in the UK public health system. The evidence suggests that the costs of continuing severe restrictions in the UK are large relative to likely benefits so that a substantial easing in general restrictions in favour of more targeted measures is warranted.
AU  - Miles,D
AU  - Stedman,M
AU  - Heald,A
DO  - 10.1017/nie.2020.30
EP  - 76
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 0027-9501
SP  - 60
TI  - Living with COVID-19: Balancing costs against benefits in the face of the virus
T2  - National Institute Economic Review
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/nie.2020.30
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000553044300009&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/national-institute-economic-review/article/living-with-covid19-balancing-costs-against-benefits-in-the-face-of-the-virus/C1D46F6A3118D0360CDAB7A08E94ED22
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/81700
VL  - 253
ER  -
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