Commentary
In their attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, California and Florida followed sharply different strategies. While California used a wide array of restrictive mandates, Florida used a targeted approach that focused on those segments of society more vulnerable to the lethal effects of COVID. The conventional wisdom is that California’s strategic response to COVID came at a high economic cost, but as compared to Florida, it resulted in many lives saved. That “wisdom” is only half correct.
No doubt California’s broad-based use of mandates led to a sharper loss in overall economic activity than Florida’s more targeted approach. The extent to which each state used mandates can be quantified by referring to Oxford University’s Stringency Index, which measures on a daily basis, using a scale from 1 to 100, 11 different statewide policy interventions….