The Economist: Covid-19 presents stark choices between life, death and the economy.

As the pandemic begins to rage in the United States, our cover this week tackles the grim choices covid-19 presents between life, death and, ultimately, the economy. The virus throws up a miasma of trade-offs: should medical resources go to covid-19 patients or those suffering from other diseases? Some unemployment and bankruptcy is a price worth paying, but how much? If extreme social distancing fails to stop the disease, how long should it persist? The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has declared: “We’re not going to put a dollar figure on human life.” It was a rallying-cry from a courageous man whose state is overwhelmed. But although it sounds hard-hearted, a dollar figure on life, or at least some way of thinking systematically, is precisely what leaders will need if they are to see their way through the harrowing months to come. To read these stories visit economist.com/coronavirus, which features all of our coverage of the virus and its consequences. And look out for a special edition of this newsletter on Saturday. Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-In-Chief