By Dave Dahl

CHAMPAIGN – The pandemic’s effect on Illinois’ economy is unique, as a University of Illinois expert says in a new report from a task force. For one thing, not only does it carry a lasting public health threat, but, as study co-author Geoffrey Hewings says, the quick, deep drop is a first of its kind thing.

“If we compare what had happened in the Great Recession (2007-2012), what we saw was a gradual unwinding of the economy,” Hewings said. “But never did the peak unemployment claims come within a tenth of the heights of unemployment claims we have seen as a result of this crisis last month.”

Hewings, director emeritus of the university’s Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, calls it the tip of the iceberg. 

As for the uproar from citizens and Republican lawmakers upset with Gov. JB Pritzker’s caution in reopening Illinois commerce, Hewings said those people are missing something: “the nature of what we call interdependence between sectors. It’s very difficult to manage an organization called an economy which has become as complex as Illinois’ has.”

Hewings, who is also scholar emeritus with UI’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs, says the complexity has helped Illinois’ growth, that growth not being at the pace of other states.

Another point – Risk-averse consumers may be slow to visit, for example, a restaurant even when they have the opportunity to. And restaurateurs, for example, will have to determine how they will staff up and stock up, as Hewings notes the domino effect of a supply chain.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].