Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article.

Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article.

In response to a likely worldwide recession, governments have turned on full blast the fiscal and monetary spigots. A $2 trillion spending plan has just been approved in the USA, central banks are on a buying spree, and the $1200 stimulus payment is just helicopter money.

With many of our readers having more time on their hands while practicing social distancing, the Mises Institute is exploring our online archives and offering topic-specific collections of curated content. This series, we are calling it the “Quarantine Chronicles: A Shelter-at-Home-Series,” will highlight essays, articles, and clips that may not be as widely known, but will provide a deep understanding of important concepts and history.

On the topic of political decentralization, we recommend some of the following selections:

Which state has the courage to become the Sweden of the US, and take a different (read: better, freer) approach to coronavirus?

The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution says that all criminal defendants “shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.” Many state constitutions also guarantee speedy trials, as do many state statutes.

Specifically, the Sixth Amendment states:

In our present dire economic situation, lots of businesses are expected to go bankrupt. The question nobody seems to ask is, why do they fail? There are two issues at play here that are very different, have different causes, and should require different solutions.

In possibly the most draconian COVID-19 order I have seen, Gunnison County in central Colorado is closing off the county to everyone but full-time locals:

A public health order for Gunnison County was amended to prohibit all visitors, including non-resident homeowners from remaining in the county for the duration of the order.

As of April 6, forty-one states have statewide “stay-at-home” decrees in place. These orders vary widely from place to place. In some states, there are long lists of exempted industries including marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, hardware stores, and of course, grocery stores.

In dark hours, when people fear for their lives, they eagerly deliver their freedom to the state. Many want the government take control of their lives, because they think it will be better for them. Ludwig von Mises has written extensively about the erroneous belief that in an emergency the state must take control of the economy because the market economy supposedly fails. Specifically, Mises dealt with this subject in his writings on war socialism.