Do social distancing laws reduce consumer spending? Not necessarily! Lessons from Sweden and Denmark

Using transaction data from a big Scandinavian bank, Asger Lau Andersen, Emil Toft Hansen, Niels Johannesen, Adam Sheridan compare the impact of social distancing laws on consumer spending in Sweden and Denmark, two countries that chose vastly different approaches in containing the pandemic. Their findings suggest that most of the economic contraction is caused by the virus itself and occurs regardless of social distancing laws.