“Regardless of whether they think lockdowns work, policymakers must be cognizant of the fact shutting down society also leads to excess deaths. Whether it’s from the government policies themselves or the willful compliance of society enforcing the soft despotism of popular hysteria, social isolation is taking its toll on the lives of many.” ~ Ethan Yang
“It is possible to condemn both the protestors who rampaged in the Capitol and the career politicians whose perennial abuses have destroyed Americans’ faith in the federal government. It would be especially unwise to confuse last week’s buffoonery with a bona fide coup attempt – which could happen if Washington continues disdaining too many angry Americans.” ~ James Bovard
“Everyday prices increased just 0.9 percent in 2020. The pandemic and government restrictions are likely to distort relative prices, but overall trends are likely to remain moderate.” – Robert Hughes
“When combined with the empirically verified reality that increased trade between nations decreases the likelihood of those nations getting into shooting wars with each other, what is left of the national-security exception to the case for unilateral free trade is very narrow indeed.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“The trade struggles with China began January 2018. Contrary to promises, it was not an easy win for the US. Tensions mounted to become a full-scale trade war. Then in 2020, administration officials began seriously to speak of an decoupling of the US and China – an unthinkably costly step in a digital world in which complex supply chains all over the world are essential to economic functioning. China, meanwhile, forged ahead making trade deals with countries all over the world. ” ~ Edward Stringham
“Significant present-day evidence continuously demonstrates that mass quarantine is both ineffectual at preventing disease spread as well as harmful to individuals. Learning the wrong lesson – assuming that mass quarantines are both good and effective – sets a dangerous precedent for future pandemics.” ~ Amelia Janaskie & Micha Gartz
“Job openings fell in November and results among the industries varied widely. With new restrictions on the rise, the outlook remains highly uncertain.” – Robert Hughes
“Lockdowns were ruled out in the past precisely so that the damage of a pandemic would be minimized and we could get through it more quickly. This was the science. This was the science all the way through the spring of 2020, when everything changed. Suddenly the “science” favored forgetting everything we’ve learned from the past and replacing it with brutal policies that wrecked the economy and people’s lives, while achieving nothing in terms of minimizing pandemic damage.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker
“What the new study from Northern Jutland shows is that an extreme form of lockdown didn’t work in one of the most law-abiding societies in the world. Why, then, should we expect lockdowns to be effective anywhere else?” ~ Joakim Book & Christian Bjørnskov
“Personal liberty and political self-government have been rare things in the broad sweep of human history. They have been difficult to establish, often hard to preserve once possessed, and far too easily taken away under the pressures of fear, demagogy, and despotic ideologies. We should remember and appreciate episodes in history like those in Lithuania in January 1991, in which a people oppressed by socialist tyranny said, ‘No,’ and insisted upon regaining their freedom.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling
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