The Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus has Australia firmly in its grip (Figure 1). Several Australian states have been in and out of lockdowns since the beginning of May. Sydney and the state of New South Wales have the most to endure, and are now entering the fifth week of lockdowns. So what will be the economic impact of current lockdowns? We know that government-imposed lockdowns induce collateral damage, both social and economic. From an economic perspective, this led to a contraction of 2.4% of the Australian economy in 2020. Which could have been much worse if the government had not stepped in, as we showed ... (full story)