Quick Note on Lost GDP Due to Shutdowns

Some folks have complained about the loss of GDP over the last five months and questioned whether the shutdowns have been worth the price. While people often toss around huge numbers in the trillions of dollars as the cost of the shutdown, these big numbers are often both inaccurate and misleading.

Measuring Lost GDP

The first place to start is getting a measure of lost GDP. This is fairly straightforward. We can just apply a 2.0 percent growth projection (approximately the projection from the C...