Commentary: Costs of the Pause are all too easy to see Chris Douglas Print Chris Douglas is an economist at the University of Michigan-Flint and member of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's Board of Scholars. He is also the author of "The Costs of Michigan's Second Lockdown." While the full ramifications of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's pandemic policies remain unknown, it is possible to estimate some of the costs. Recent employment data from the federal government shows that the second lockdown that started in November, the "Pause to Save Lives," led to significant job losses in the restaurant and bar industry. For the two-and-a-half months the state banned indoor dining, more than 60,000 people lost their jobs, by far the largest decline among Midwestern states.