Mask Mandates and Economic Fallout

Question A: The long-term economic benefits of Ohio's mask mandate are higher than the long-term economic costs of the mandate.

Question B: Economic damage from COVID-19 and its economic fallout will ultimately fall disproportionately on low- and middle-income families.

Question A: The long-term economic benefits of Ohio's mask mandate are higher than the long-term economic costs of the mandate.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Strongly Agree	9	The best economic stimulus is anything that reduces covid19 and masks are one of the cheapest ways to reduce the spread and nudge the economy back towards normal.
Gregory Arburn	University of Findlay	Strongly Agree	9
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Strongly Agree	9
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Strongly Agree	10
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Strongly Agree	9	The cost is relatively low and the benefits we are still learning about but highly likely the benefits exceed the low costs.
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Uncertain	9
Hasan Faruq	Xavier University	Strongly Agree	10
Robert Gitter	Ohio Wesleyan University	Strongly Agree	10	Usually there are tradeoffs. The mask mandate reduces COVID-19 cases as well as allowing for a broader re-opening of the economy. Just look at Europe.
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Strongly Agree	9
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Strongly Agree	10
Faria Huq	Lake Erie College	Agree	9	My answer is predicated on the proper enforcement of the mask mandate.
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Strongly Agree	5	Even though the long-term benefits are unknown, the costs of the mandate itself seem quite low.
Fadhel Kaboub	Denison University	Strongly Agree	10
Bill Kosteas	Cleveland State University	Strongly Agree	9	There is very little cost to wearing masks in public settings where you are likely to come in close contact with others who are not part of your household.
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Strongly Agree	8
Trevon Logan	Ohio State University	Strongly Agree	10
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Strongly Agree	9
Joseph Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Strongly Agree	10	Masks are cheap; sutting down the economy again would be tremendously expensive.
Mingming Pan	Wright State University	Strongly Agree	10
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Strongly Agree	10	Mask-wearing is a low-cost activity that has large benefits associated with maintaining economic/business activity (not to mention direct public health benefits).
Lewis Sage	Baldwin Wallace University	Strongly Agree	9
Dean Snyder	Antioch College	Agree	7
Kay Strong	Independent	Agree	9	In a weighing of alternative, mutually exclusive, the opportunity cost describes the trade-off. An economy is the construct for the living.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Strongly Agree	10	Without the mask mandate, COVID-19 will spread further, diminishes confidence in the public to go out, further undermining economic activity.
Melissa Thomasson	Miami University	Strongly Agree	10
Thomas Traynor	Wright State University	Strongly Agree	9
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Strongly Agree	10
Mark Votruba	Case Western Reserve University	Strongly Agree	9
Matthew Weinberg	Ohio State University	Strongly Agree	7
Andrew Welki	John Carroll University	Strongly Agree	9	Given the few personal actions people can take to limit spread with so few economic costs, this is a no brainer.
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Strongly Agree	8
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Strongly Agree	9	The issue is that the societal benefit is greater than the individual benefit.

Question B: Economic damage from COVID-19 and its economic fallout will ultimately fall disproportionately on low- and middle-income families.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Agree	6	It depends on how you measure it. In absolute dollars, the non-wealthy will suffer less, but not in more important measures like unemployment, mortality, and percentage drop in consumption spending.
Gregory Arburn	University of Findlay	Agree	9
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Strongly Agree	10
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Agree	7	Will also hurt small business owners, landlords, and those who hold the most stocks.
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Agree	7
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Strongly Disagree	9	Jobs that require in-person availability tend to be held by low-income and immigrant families. The global economy favors those with current tech skills who can work from remote locations.
Hasan Faruq	Xavier University	Strongly Agree	10
Robert Gitter	Ohio Wesleyan University	Agree	7	In terms of lost income, definitely. We don't know how taxes will be raised to pay for the various programs and who will pay for those.
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Strongly Agree	9
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Strongly Agree	8
Faria Huq	Lake Erie College	Strongly Agree	9
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Uncertain	7
Fadhel Kaboub	Denison University	Strongly Agree	10
Bill Kosteas	Cleveland State University	Agree	7	The answer depends on how we define fallout. If we include increases in future taxes to pay for recent and proposed COVID related spending, that likely shifts the burden towards higher income hh.
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Agree	8
Trevon Logan	Ohio State University	Strongly Agree	10
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Agree	8	My response is based on what I read and hear in news reports.
Joseph Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Strongly Agree	9
Mingming Pan	Wright State University	Agree	8
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Strongly Agree	9	Research is already showing this to be true. Less likely to be a able to work remotely so more exposure to virus and layoffs. Issues with school re-openings hurts two-earner households.
Lewis Sage	Baldwin Wallace University	Strongly Agree	9
Dean Snyder	Antioch College	Strongly Agree	9
Kay Strong	Independent	Strongly Agree	10	Result of long-term neglect.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Strongly Agree	10	Data has already proven that low- and middle- income families have been disproportionally impacted by COVID-19.
Melissa Thomasson	Miami University	Strongly Agree	9
Thomas Traynor	Wright State University	Agree	7
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Strongly Agree	8
Mark Votruba	Case Western Reserve University	Strongly Agree	9
Matthew Weinberg	Ohio State University	Strongly Agree	10
Andrew Welki	John Carroll University	Strongly Agree	9	Given the nature of educational access, family structure, and the way employment aligns by income level, remote burdens low income more than professionals.
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Strongly Agree	9
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Strongly Agree	10	The job losses were born by those with less wealth to shelter them through it.