A report just released by Professor David Miles from Imperial College London assesses the costs and benefits of COVID-19 lock-down policies. He concludes that "a policy of not easing restrictions until the point at which there is virtually no chance of a resurgence in infection rates rising is not a policy in the interests of the population". Given NZ appears to have closely adopted such a policy, the report should make waves in this country.
Especially since Professor Miles, in particular, is well respected by our own government. After all, he was the economist they hired to review the Reserve Bank of NZ's highly controversial capital requirements. Last year the Bank commented how his report supported "the direction proposed in the Capital Review".
Much as the government was happy to use Miles' earlier report to back up its new banking regulation policies, expect it not to take so much of a liking to Miles' latest report which casts doubt on NZ's COVID-19 regulation policies. The full article can be downloaded here: