Iikka Korhonen, Bank of Finland: It is a great pleasure to comment on this exciting research paper on the determinants of the spread (the standard reproduction rate) and effects (deaths per million) of the COVID-19 virus in a large cross-section of countries as well as over time (from mid-March to mid-June 2020).
My comments should obviously be read with the passage of time in mind. I am writing this in mid August, two months after, the end of the data sample used in the paper. The events, the pandemic, and also research related to COVID-19—whether economic or medical—are surging ahead by leaps and bounds practically every day. Therefore, I can offer comments also because I have access to data and research that could not be available to the author. For example, the situation in Hong Kong seems to be now much more precarious than it was in June. (And, when...