Topic: Crisis

The Anatomy of Government Failure in a Pandemic

– March 25, 2020

It likely cannot be fixed by electing or appointing “better” people or by giving regulatory agencies like the FDA bigger budgets. Their failures are a product of their incentives, not their intentions–and until their incentives change, we can expect to see a recurring pattern of government failure.

Crisis

800 Medical Specialists Caution Against Draconian Measures

– March 24, 2020

If you worry that the coercive measures government is proposing go way too far, you are not alone: many in the mainstream of the medical profession agree with you.

Crisis, Economic Theory

It’s the Poor Who Are Suffering Most

– March 24, 2020

Let’s be very clear about what’s happening: Coronavirus is a rich man’s disease, and the economy-crushing shutdown something created by the relatively rich. The poor? They’ll be the victims of this freakout born of mass affluence.

Crisis

Government Common Stock Ownership: Cure Worse than Disease

– March 24, 2020

In this age of SWF (sovereign wealth funds, not the flick Single White Female, which is almost thirty already!), it may seem odd to question the right of a government to own corporate common shares directly (e.g., by the Treasury), or indirectly through the Federal Reserve or other government-sponsored organizations.

Crisis

Commercial Habits and Pandemics

– March 24, 2020

Historian William Hutton recounts how country-folk were often too afraid to enter villages filled with potentially sick customers. Instead, they would bring their merchandise to the plague stone, usually set up on the outskirts of a town.

Crisis, Regulation

Rethink the Disease-Spreading Hand Dryer in a Pandemic

– March 23, 2020

The effect is akin to setting off an airborne bomb of viruses and bacteria inside a restroom, with mounting evidence showing that they also quickly disperse throughout the attached buildings.

Crisis

Leaving People Alone Is the Best Way to Beat the Coronavirus

– March 23, 2020

The problem is a social and medical one, and not a political one. The best methods and avenues for people as individuals and as members of groups and participants in society as a whole, to discover and apply that which would be best to deal with a pandemic of this sort is to leave it to the institutions of voluntary civil society and the competitive, profit-directed forces of supply and demand.

Crisis

Coronavirus Lockdowns: When Will They End?

– March 23, 2020

There is no evidence that these grave consequences are being considered in a serious way. Instead, presentations tend to focus on technical issues and avoid the widespread suffering that soon will overwhelm many in the United States.

Crisis, Video

Coronavirus and Economic Crisis (Video)

– March 22, 2020

In a shockingly short period of time, life in the US went from normal and happy to uncertain and essentially terrifying. The economic impact of both the virus and the policy response to the virus is without precedent. This video explores the unfolding …

Crisis

A Retrospective on the Avian Flu Scare of 2005

– March 22, 2020

On November 1, 2005, President George W. Bush held a press conference in which he called for draconian measures and $7.1 billion in spending to stop the spread of H5N1 Avian flu, which was then starting to cause some panic. “The president said th …

Crisis

Economic Theory in Time of Crisis

– March 22, 2020

The self-corrective mechanism has been shut off by dictate, not just made more difficult or confusing but locked down by government dictate. In short, this downfall is a consequence of a government-mandated work stoppage due to a public health crisis.

Crisis

Globalization Does Not Increase Pandemic Risk

– March 22, 2020

During the 20th century, the volume of international exchanges went in the opposite direction: trade increased and expanded as a result of trade liberalization and technological innovations in transport and communications. Thus, it appears that in spite of globalization, the damages wrought by pandemics have fallen.