2022, Casey Mulligan, "Substance Abuse and the COVID-19 Pandemic"

The number of deaths from drug overdoses and alcohol abuse rose during the first 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the many factors that may have contributed to these developments, explored in a new study (29719) by NBER research associate Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago, is an increase in the disposable income of some at-risk households as a result of pandemic-related stimulus payments.  This income rise coincided with a decline in the effective price of consuming alcohol and some addictive drugs.  Mulligan examines the timing of increased deaths from various causes as well as the changes in income and price effects during the pandemic.  He summarizes his research findings in the video above. An archive of NBER videos on pandemic-related research may be found here.