The human life vs economic loss dilemma: Relation between death rate and the output rate in Europe during the Covid 19 pandemic

I analyze the human life-economic loss dilemma (HELD) trade-off between saving lives ad saving economic activities during the emergency period of Covid 19 pandemic. A new concept labeled HELD Curve, not addressed in the literature so far, is proposed to model the inverse non-linear relation between loss of economic activity and death rates during the Covid 19 Pandemic in Europe, due to the lockdown policy. Econometric estimation supports this view offering to policymakers a tool to assess the impact of continuing the lockdown. The HELD curve elasticity implies a trade-off of 218 thousand EURO per saved human life.