The 1958 pandemic killed twice as many people as COVID-19 has so far. Yet, the economy in 2020 has collapsed far worse than either in 1958 or the far worse pandemic of 1918.
Decades of Keynesian policy have crippled the Japanese economy. Only a turn toward free markets offer a real way out.
Central banks have decided that one of their main missions is to prevent deflation. But this only ends up causing the malinvestments that lead to economic busts.
Some claim "the rich" will be fine—or even better off—after the COVID panic destroys the economy for most of us. But there's a problem: the wealthy depend heavily on an economy fueled by the production and consumption of all workers and entrepreneurs.
Most of the world's regimes enthusiastically destroyed their economies and consigned millions to destitution (and a rising tide of resulting health problems) in pursuit of a trendy and unproven theory. There's still not evidence that the lockdowns worked.
With such chaos, confusion, and incompetence playing out, it is little wonder that more and more Pennsylvanians are refusing to obey lockdown decrees.
Paul Krugman is now claiming that reopening the economy and allowing people to go to work almost surely will cause a depression.
The difference between modern economics and proper economic thinking lies in taking the step that comes after arriving at the "unseen," to the "unrealized."
Hacking off soldiers' limbs was a favorite technique of Civil War surgeons, largely because doctors wanted to avoid blame for later cases of gangrene. So doctors erred on the "safe" side. Many patients may have disagreed.
Fueled by unprecedented quantitative easing, central bank asset purchases, and various stimulus packages, the money supply growth rate ballooned in April to an all-time high.
