COVID-19 and the Planners’ Need to Plan
Despite the fact that the CDC’s formal name includes the word “Prevention” and that its stated goals include various planning buzzwords, its managing of the COVID-19 response has been an unmitigated disaster.
Despite the fact that the CDC’s formal name includes the word “Prevention” and that its stated goals include various planning buzzwords, its managing of the COVID-19 response has been an unmitigated disaster.
The size of an entrepreneur's return on his investment is determined not by how much risk he assumes, but rather whether he complies with consumers' wishes.
Anti-price gouging laws mean that those who really end up getting the short end of the stick are those who don't have the time or the means to beat the crowds to the store. Worse off are those of lesser means who rely on public transportation or walking to transport groceries home.
The state has used this virus scare to demand that politicians and bureaucrats be given near-total control over every aspect of life, including virtually every business and employer in America. Will this now be a permanent feature of American life?
It's time to stop pretending that the policies favored by some biologists—who know nothing about how economies work to lessen the health effects of poverty—come without grave costs to public health.
The 2016 election was an important reminder that most experts were totally wrong in their predictions of what would happen. Now the experts are claiming that freedom and markets must be abandoned based on new guesses about the future.
The effects of COVID-19 are not evenly distributed in the United States. Only certain regions are facing sizable strains on their resources. A nationwide lockdown would create huge economic costs for regions where the the costs of disease have been relatively low.
Why are governments so enthusiastic about shutting down businesses when other less draconian measures are available and prudent? The answer lies in the fact that governments can act with near impunity and want to maximize their power.
It is a marvel that imperfect, limited information available to the entrepreneur can be used to produce so much good for society.
The costs of this government-forced economic collapse—in terms of lost lives and ruined health—are likely to be devastating.