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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Why the Political Class Freaked Out
Politicians, including the President, try to adjust expectations about what a “good” or “bad” outcome would look like. If the outcome is bad and lots of people die they can always come out with the “good thing we did something or this would have been much worse” excuse.
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Our Ten Days that Shook the World
After that day in New York, our worlds began to shut down. The following day, a national emergency was declared. Then the CDC recommended against 50 or more people. France locked down. Borders closed. Then the unthinkable scenario unfolded.
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Peter Navarro Has Got to Go
To Navarro, the answer to every question is always and everywhere erecting barriers to the production of others. To say he amazingly believes something is to pretend a lot of thinking informs what he says. Probably not.
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Do Economists Believe in “Magic”? No, We Believe in Markets
The entire dismal science rests on this very, very simple insight: specialization makes our labor more productive. We could complicate this in all sorts of different ways, and that’s exactly what we do when we move from specialization to supply and demand.
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No, Capitalism Did Not Fail
Riding out storms and sharing risks across billions of people is a feature, not a bug, and the affluent capitalist nature of our institutions puts us in a better position to deal with them.
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The Press Conference Trump Should Hold Now
“I have a new campaign slogan more in keeping with my new political view of things. It is, “Make Americans Free Again.” This is an idea and an ideal truly worth fighting for and reestablishing here in the United States.”
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With Knowledge Comes Calm, Rationality, and, Possibly, Openness
To the extent we can replace fear-based mythology, predictions, and state power with knowledge rooted in empirical realities, that is to say, actual facts, we get closer to comprehending the possibility of calm and focus on what matters.
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Unwealthy is Unhealthy, So Why Mandate It?
Standard claims about the supposed net benefits of mandatory lockdowns, shutdowns, and shut-ins are dubious on both economic and moral grounds; as such, they’re woefully improper, even dangerous, when used to justify destructive public policymaking.
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The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Not Exponential
It is farcical that people who until a few weeks ago couldn’t even spell the word “exponential” – let alone explain what it meant – ran straight across this intellectually hysterical spectrum and made the opposite mistake: drawing exponential curves until they ran out of paper or whiteboards.
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A Plan to End this Madness
Unless our neighbors break into our houses and cough in our faces, what they do is their business, not ours. Our business is to do what we think best for ourselves and our families.
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May this Crisis Shock Us Into Embracing Freedom
During a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, certain things suddenly come into sharp focus. In this case, we are overwhelmed with examples of how regulatory barriers, restrictions, and blockages have hindered the ability of society to adapt to rapidly c …
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