this just in, and no surprise; those states that refused to lock down did much better than those that did, all way round;

New Data Show HUGE Economic Gulf Between Lockdown and Free States

When COVID-19 first came to our shores, it presented policymakers and elected officials with a crisis like nothing in living memory. In the year since, states have taken markedly different approaches to pandemic policy. Some, like New York, embraced sweeping government lockdowns and top-down mandates while others like Florida and South Dakota took a more humble, hands-off government approach, trusting individuals to make the best decisions for themselves.

The results are in—and they overwhelmingly vindicate the free states over the authoritarian experiments. First, we saw that states with the harshest restrictions didn’t actually achieve the best COVID-19 death outcomes. Meanwhile, free state economies have fared much better.

The national unemployment rate was a poor if not disastrous 6.2 percent in February. Yet new Labor Department data show that many free states have returned to nearly their pre-pandemic unemployment rates while lockdown states dominate the wrong end of the list..........read more.......