The Deeply Flawed Studies Behind the Eviction Moratoriums

By Brad Beckett 

A recent report from Reason shows how the government and media relied on studies plagued by shoddy statistics to make the case for blocking evictions during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.  They point out some deep flaws in two studies that got widespread media attention and that were cited by the federal government to support its policies.  These studies claim to show that the moratoriums saved thousands of lives.   Reason lays out a pretty good case to show how their results were implausible.  

“These studies are deeply flawed. Their underlying data are incomplete and inconsistent. Their results are implausible. The size of the effect is wildly disproportionate to other public health interventions. The researchers also claim an absurd amount of certainty in their results despite the large uncertainties in the data they use, and they assert a causal effect based solely on correlation. If the authors were correct, they would have arrived at one of the greatest public health discoveries in history.”

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