Thank you, Pete! Yes, thanks for pointing that out, we mention that in our "What do our results mean?" subsection, but will emphasize it again when we release the study and the subsequent Substack post along with it. Since most of our audience are non-economists, that can be misinterpreted as absolute changes.
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!, to hear if you make hiring people more difficult or expensive, fewer people are hired.
That said, it's important to emphasize W2 employment (etc) decreased 4.7% _from what it could have been_, not in absolute terms.
Thank you, Pete! Yes, thanks for pointing that out, we mention that in our "What do our results mean?" subsection, but will emphasize it again when we release the study and the subsequent Substack post along with it. Since most of our audience are non-economists, that can be misinterpreted as absolute changes.