Capitol News

Michigan has a “Depression-level unemployment situation” as a result of COVID-19, economist Patrick Anderson -- principal and CEO of Anderson Economic Group -- said on WJR's "The Frank Beckmann Show."

It started in April and “continues in many counties today,” Anderson told Beckmann. He cited statistics for Otsego County as an example.

“Otsego County got to 29% unemployment,” Anderson said on the radio program. “This is much worse than the Great Recession.”

Much of the unemployment is “a direct result of orders directly from Lansing that forced people out of their jobs,” he told Beckmann.

In some cases, the shutdown orders were necessary, particularly in March as the virus surged, according to Anderson. But in September, there is a “serious problem,” with one-size-fits-all statewide orders, the economist said.

Some counties continue have double-digit unemployment but simultaneously few cases of COVID-19, Anderson pointed out.

“Most days in Otsego County, thankfully, the number of cases reported are zero,” he told Beckmann. “Most days in August, zero. Most days in July, zero. Most days in June, zero."

Counties like Otsego need a “common-sense, reasonable approach to letting people get back to their livelihoods and end some of the isolation and negative health effects that are happening because people are afraid to go out,” Anderson said on Beckmann's show.

COVID-19 is likely to continue in waves, according to Anderson.

“You have some states that have already had modest second waves, including Michigan,” Anderson said on the radio program. “But Michigan cases peaked in April -- April! Again, I’m thankful for that. We peaked early, which meant we lost some people; a lot of people were sick."

Michigan took the pandemic seriously, but "we also need to take it rationally,” Anderson told Beckmann.

That includes taking into account the damage from the shutdown, medically speaking, when people are reluctant to go to the doctor or emergency room for non-COVID-19 health problems.

“But we have to face the fact here that there have been over 150 executive orders, in many cases bearing absolutely no relationship between the local conditions and the orders, are really, really hurting Michigan," Anderson said on the radio.