Study: Federal Mask Mandate Would Save 5% Of GDP

The Hill reports:

A federal mandate to wear masks would slow the spread of the coronavirus enough to save the economy from losing 5 percent of its value, according to a Goldman Sachs study. “We argue that a national face mask mandate could partially substitute for renewed lockdowns,” Goldman Sachs analysts Jann Hatzius, Daan Struyven, and Isabella Rosenberg wrote in their study.

The analysis rested on several steps, finding that mask requirements led to an increase in mask usage, which in turn led to better outcomes on COVID-19 spread. Those better outcomes paved the way for more sustained economic reopening. Mask-wearing has become politicized in the United States. President Trump refuses to wear one in public, and has said that it’s a personal choice.