In medieval Europe, taxes raised by kings were seen as something exceptional, and even borderline criminal.

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If history has taught us anything, it’s that a crisis is the lifeblood of state growth. The coronavirus saga offers a treasure trove of power grabs that elected officials are seeking to ram through while Americans must make significant readjustments in their daily lives due to state-imposed shutdowns around the nation.

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As COVID-19 prompts a reevaluation of institutions and standard methods of operating the world over, an opportunity exists to reorient our economic thinking so that it more closely corresponds to the realities of the modern economic landscape. It starts with abandoning GDP.

Recently here in Vancouver, Canada, medical mask resellers were punished by authorities, with their inventory seized and fines imposed. This is the second time resellers have been punished in recent weeks. This action is the exact opposite of what the government should do if it wants to see an increase in supply of medical masks to people who need them.

That central banks are distorting markets is no longer a surprise to anyone. But the current pandemic succeeded in what the financial crisis of 2008 failed to achieve, namely to put the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet under political control. The Federal Reserve aims to intervene in financial markets to limit losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but the collateral risks of such a decision outweigh the benefits pursued.

Two weeks ago, during a March 17 address to the nation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, President Donald Trump asked that Americans work from home, postpone unnecessary travel, and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people.

And last week, on March 27, Trump signed a stimulus package of over $2 trillion dollars to provide relief to an economy on the precipice of collapse.

The aid package includes handouts and loans to individuals, small businesses, and other distressed industries.

In the early days of the outbreak, pundits rushed to the ramparts of Twitter to proclaim that “there are no libertarians in a pandemic.” However, this glee at the apparent failure of markets was soon dashed as more evidence accumulated showing that government intervention was actually the main impediment to success. From an economic standpoint, the channels by which government failure accumulated were legion: