I'd like you to imagine, and this shouldn't be very hard, but imagine you were in the midst

of a growing pandemic.

A 12th fatality has now been reported here in the United States.

ER doctors saying we are on the verge of a medical disaster.

And let's say you want to be as informed as possible.

The daily coronavirus death toll in the United States might hit 3,000 by early June.

The coronavirus forcing millions more Americans into virtual lockdown.

This dangerous health crisis could dovetail quickly into a political crisis.

And now let's say you are an economics professor watching this news for hours a day.

How does the information you are getting add to your understanding of the pandemic?

I honestly thought I was going crazy.

The economist in question here is Bruce Sasserdot at Dartmouth College.

I'm very utilitarian and I was looking for useful information and hence my frustration

because I felt like it was more advertorial and entertainment.

When Sasserdot says he was looking for more useful information, what does that mean?

What I would be looking for is, okay, there was this new study done.

Here's what they found.

Here's what this means for the pandemic.

Here's what this means for when we can get back to work.

But instead, it tends to be a lot of angst and bemoaning the numbers.

Even if they hadn't changed or had gotten better.

It wasn't that Sasserdot wanted to pretend that everything was fine.

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