The people who really run the country are unelected "experts" and bureaucrats at the central banks, at public health agencies, spy agencies, and an expanding network of boards and commissions.
Debt-ridden countries such as Italy will come to rely more and more on Germans and other northern Europeans to finance their debt. This will require a more unified Europe. Or the whole thing may collapse.
The lockdowns of the past month have not been conducive to the common good. While they have saved the lives of many people, they have also endangered—and are still endangering—the lives and livelihoods of many others. They have created a new and dangerous political precedent.
As the debt bombs in Italy and Spain and France get worse, it increasingly looks like the eurozone will have to bail out a huge portion of the European economy. Either that, or break up the EU, provoking a new crisis.
From trade barriers to disastrous government regulations, government intervention has crippled society's ability to respond well to the spread of disease.
To ensure that the United States moves past this pandemic, we must minimize government infringements of civil liberties and maximize the incentives of private businesses and individuals who want to assist in our efforts to combat this “invisible enemy.”
“Whenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State…the State becomes for the time inevitably absolute.” We cannot allow combating a virus to overwhelm all other values in society.
What we can learn from the Patriot Act is that during a time of crisis governments can pass legislation that impacts citizens’ lives long after the crisis of the day has passed.
The lasting and far-reaching harms caused by this authoritarian precedent far outweigh those caused by the COVID-19 virus. The American people must decide for themselves how and when to reopen society and return to their daily lives.
