%0 Report %A Stark, Oded %T Covid-19 and Income Inequality in OECD Countries: A Methodological Comment %D 2023 %8 2023 Jun %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) %C Bonn %7 IZA Discussion Paper %N 16264 %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp16264 %X Wildman (2021), who identifies "a clear association between income inequality [measured by the Gini coefficient] and COVID-19 cases and deaths," concludes that "a goal of government should be to reduce [income] inequalities and [thereby] improve [the COVID-19 outcomes /] underlying health of their populations." In this Comment, we argue that reducing the Gini coefficient of the income distribution of a population need not weaken the population's social stress. It is this stress which is a source of adverse health outcomes of the population. Because a measure of this stress is a component of the Gini coefficient, reducing the coefficient can leave the measure as is, or even increase the measure. %K forming public health policy %K income inequality %K Gini coefficient %K social stress