• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Friday, May 27, 2022
The Iowa Torch
  • Home
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion
The Iowa Torch
The Iowa Torch
No Result
View All Result
Home State Government

Report: Iowa’s Limited Pandemic Response Reduced Harm to State’s Economy

Iowa’s comparatively limited response to the COVID-19 pandemic limited the blow to its economy, according to a new report from the Georgia Center for Opportunity.

Mary StrokabyMary Stroka
December 8, 2021
in State Government
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Reynolds Extends Mask Mandate, Gathering Restrictions By One Week

Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a press conference on Dec. 9, 2020.
Photo Credit: Cecelia Hanley/The Des Moines Register/Pool

(The Center Square) – Iowa’s comparatively limited response to the COVID-19 pandemic limited the blow to its economy, according to a new report from the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO).

RELATED POSTS

The Iowa Legislature adjourns for the 2022 session.

Iowa House will not vote on school choice bill this year

Iowa rebounds from pandemic unemployment numbers

The GCO measured the impact of each state’s actions on its respective economy in a 510-page study, “Assessing Each State’s Response To The Pandemic: Understanding The Impact On Employment & Work.” The report compared the states’ government’s responses to the pandemic using the Abridged Oxford Stringency Index (AOSI) from the Coronavirus Government Response Tracker of Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government. GCO created a Government Severity Index (GSI), which analyzed the impact of school closures (kindergarten through 12th grade), workplace closures, gathering restrictions, capacity limits and stay-at-home mandates.

Iowa ranked near the bottom of both indices. GCO ranked it 47th on the GSI, and 49th on the AOSI.

When the pandemic hit the United States in the spring of 2020, state governments took a variety of measures to attempt to reduce economic activities to limit the pandemic’s long-term impact on people and businesses. Nevertheless, thousands of businesses had to close their doors forever.

“Iowa was one of the least several states, ranking #47 with the Government Severity Index (GSI) & #49 with the Abridged Oxford Stringency Index (AOSI),” GCO Director of Research and report author Erik Randolph told The Center Square in an emailed statement. “How I would interpret the results is that Iowa fared better than most states. Had it been more severe, it would have lost more jobs. The 20,800 jobs (per standard deviation (SD) movement) is an estimate of what they may have lost had they been more severe, but the impact would have been more if they moved to be the most severe. … For the United States, the estimated economic effect is 2,017,000 lost jobs in March 2021 by being more severe.”

ADVERTISEMENT

While all studies, including this report, have limitations, the results of this report are strong statistical evidence that more governmental actions in limiting economies is correlated with greater harms on jobs and long-term recovery, Randolph said.

“Minor changes to the state responses could result in hundreds of thousands of individuals being able to continue to work and provide for their families,” the webpage summarizing the report said. “Our hope is that this report will encourage state and federal leadership to learn from the past 18 months and from the actions of fellow state leaders to weigh the severity of their actions on public and social health and wellbeing.”

The report did not find an association between severity of states’ shutdowns and rate of reported COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

“The jobs situation would likely be much better today had some states been less severe with their economic restrictions to fight the public health threat from COVID-19 and its variants,” Randolph said in the news release.

Washington placed highest on the Government Severity Index and 14th on the Abridged Oxford Stringency Index. On both indices, Hawaii placed second highest and New York placed third highest.

Iowa experienced 181.5 COVID deaths per 100,000 people, the report said. Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Rhode Island and South Dakota experienced more than 200 COVID deaths per capita while Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont experienced fewer than 50 COVID deaths per capita.

View the states’ rankings here.

Tags: Abridged Oxford Stringency IndexCOVID-19Erik RandolphGeorgia Center for OpportunityGovernment Severity Index
ShareTweetShare
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Sand Announces He Will Run for Second Term as State Auditor

Next Post

Hinson Responds to November’s Job Report

Mary Stroka

Mary Stroka

Mary Stoka is a freelance writer, editor, journalist, and public relations professional who lives in Chicago, Ill.

Related Posts

Feenstra, Hinson Join Letter Urging Congressional Leaders to Reduce Spending, Balance Budget
Opinion

Hendrickson: Is Iowa prepared for the federal debt crisis?

May 25, 2022
teacher teaching her students
Federal Government

Miller-Meeks introduces resolution to unmask students

April 21, 2022
State Government

Bill protecting religious liberty passes Iowa House in bipartisan fashion

March 22, 2022
Windschitl: Protecting Iowans’ Second Amendment Rights
Opinion

Windschitl: The Art of Compromise

March 21, 2022
46 manufacturers receive $20M in workforce innovation grants from state
State Government

46 manufacturers receive $20M in workforce innovation grants from state

March 4, 2022
Holt: Education, Free Speech & Justice for All
Opinion

Holt: That’s right, I am an Iowan!

March 4, 2022
Next Post

Hinson Responds to November's Job Report

Best Announces Re-Election Campaign in New Iowa House District 11

Best Announces Re-Election Campaign in New Iowa House District 11

Sign-Up For Our Daily Updates

Get The Iowa Torch right in your inbox!

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Recommended Articles

Miller-Meeks: Releasing Europe’s energy from Russia’s grip

Miller-Meeks: Releasing Europe’s energy from Russia’s grip

February 14, 2022
Ernst Says Congressional Democrats Are Attempting a ‘Power Grab’

Ernst Introduces Bill to Rein In Federal Spending, Address Debt Crisis

June 14, 2021
Miller-Meeks: From the Missouri to the Mississippi

Miller-Meeks: From the Missouri to the Mississippi

February 5, 2022

Popular Stories

  • Reynolds Launches New Teacher and Paraeducator Registered Apprenticeship

    Reynolds targets two more Republican state representatives

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Five Iowa House Republicans took money from teachers’ union PAC

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reynolds endorses two pro-school choice Iowa House candidates

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Iowa House will not vote on school choice bill this year

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Freeman files to run in Iowa House District 46

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

The Iowa Torch

The Iowa Torch​ is a for-profit, news organization that focuses on political news as it relates to Iowans

Categories

  • Education
  • Federal Government
  • Iowa History
  • Local Government
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • State Government
  • Uncategorized

Newsletter

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

© 2022 The Iowa Torch, a publication of 4:15 Communications, LLC.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion

© 2022 The Iowa Torch, a publication of 4:15 Communications, LLC.