> Even if you want to point at lockdowns as the cause, it is an empirical fact that the decrease in public foot traffic happened prior to any lockdown and continues for a large % of the population. The pandemic didn't disappear and people getting sick will continue to drag on the economy until it's manageable.
Look at how people are behaving in states that re-opened. Given the clear evidence of human behavior it is ridiculous to assert that a recession caused by the pandemic alone would have been as bad as the recession caused by government-enforced lockdowns. People are not acting like they are afraid. Maybe they are being stupid but that's not the point -- the point is that consumers are acting like there is no virus, and it was the government lockdown, not consumer behavior, that really hurt businesses. People were living normal lives until the day the lockdowns started, and they resumed living the same way the day the lockdowns ended, despite the clear risks to their health.
Look at how people are behaving in states that re-opened. Given the clear evidence of human behavior it is ridiculous to assert that a recession caused by the pandemic alone would have been as bad as the recession caused by government-enforced lockdowns. People are not acting like they are afraid. Maybe they are being stupid but that's not the point -- the point is that consumers are acting like there is no virus, and it was the government lockdown, not consumer behavior, that really hurt businesses. People were living normal lives until the day the lockdowns started, and they resumed living the same way the day the lockdowns ended, despite the clear risks to their health.