The Real Looters are the Politicians
“It remains to be seen whether mayors will have the gumption to throw the book at the thieves. But it is even less likely that the politicians and other government officials who inflicted far greater damage on the economy will ever be held liable.” ~ James Bovard
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Give Sweden a B- in Coronavirus 101
“The experiences in nursing homes have varied. Let us learn from them without politicizing them. Nursing homes present challenges that call for particular solutions, to be undertaken chiefly by people who are close to those to be protected.” ~ Daniel B. Klein & Charlotta Stern
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How the Religious Mind – vs Political Arrogance – Copes with Death
“If policymakers had serenity, courage, and wisdom, 40 million Americans would still have their jobs or small businesses and Jesus would have approximately the same number of American dance partners as He does now.” ~ Robert Wright
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Economic Planning Will Extend Economic Misery
“Central planning of resources doesn’t work during good times, which means it most certainly doesn’t during the bad.” ~ John Tamny
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The Tyranny of (Alleged) Experts
Why do we believe that the right experts somehow charge forward and demonstrate their superior expertise? There is an alternative to politicians and experts deciding when to reopen the country. Decisions made in the market, by businesses and individuals are naturally cognitively diverse.
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Five Things That Will End the Madness
Winston Churchill famously said: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” We are not at the end of the damage to the world economy from COVID-19, but we are, perhaps, at the end of the beginning. Here are our next steps.
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Now It’s Obvious: The Political Class and the Media Are Spinning Tales
Rather than accepting the epistemic limitations of the current crisis as a reason to abstain from aggressive policies, they double down on the same. And when their chosen courses go awry or fail to deliver on their promised salvation, history is rewritten to obscure the fact that such promises were ever made.
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Spanish Flu Was Awful But We Moved On Anyway
The Spanish Flu killed at least 50 million individuals in the span of a few months and contributed to a industrial production and commercial activity drop of between 16% to 25% in less than a year. Here are three prudent lessons on how to minimize long-term costs brought by temporary behavioral changes enacted to slow the propagation of the coronavirus.
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The Epistemology of COVID-19
How do we know what we know, when the coronavirus crisis has shown that even “hard” science does not easily discern Truth from Error? Data can be “massaged” by removing “outliers,” putting in “lags,” smoothing in different ways, and on and on. The distortions do not have to be deliberate to be a major problem.
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The Virtues of Fiscal Discipline
Deficits used to be temporary affairs racked up in exceptional periods as the result of shocks, and paid down with surpluses. Despite years of decent economic growth, public debts in most western countries remain at high levels relative to GDP. Consequently, capacity to respond to crisis – such as natural disasters, wars and the one we are facing now – through borrowing is considerably reduced.
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The 100-Day Disaster that Befell America
It took only 100 days to asphyxiate the world economy and the suggestion of possible sickness to render a nation once characterized by rugged individualism, personal liberty, bravery and industry into house-bound milksops.
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Anatomy of the Great Suppression
The Great Suppression, a severe contraction in business activity caused by a government crackdown on capitalist acts between consenting adults, is an awful calamity. Government’s grip will be loosened once the crisis passes, but it will likely be tighter post-crisis versus pre-crisis.
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