We study the economic impact of social distancing measures aimed at lowering the proportion of infected individuals to a predetermined level. Using simple economic and epidemiology models, it is proven that strict social distancing measures diminish the aggregate loss in the economic output and the number of new infections during the containment period. This can be explained by the fact that, when strict social distancing measures are enforced, a short containment period is needed to restrain the proportion of infected individuals to a given level. It is also proven that early interventions diminish the aggregate economic loss as well as the number of new infections during the containment period. We derive simple approximations for the economic loss and number of new infections. A numerical example based on COVID-19 shows that aggressive and early social distancing measures can significantly reduce the aggregate economic loss as well as the number of new infections.