Topic: Public Choice and Public Policy

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government, Public Choice and Public Policy

The Covid-19 Ratchet Effects Are Becoming Clearer and More Concerning

– July 2, 2021

“Creating the best post-covid world possible involves more than eradicating the virus. It also requires returning to pre-covid levels of government involvement in our lives. The ratchet effect stands in the way, and it lasts much longer than a pandemic.” ~ Raymond J. March

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

The Truth about Excess Deaths

– June 30, 2021

“Ultimately, these early findings reinforce the core difficulty that policy planners face. Planners can never know enough to plan for every eventuality, nor can they accurately predict what their plans will actually do. As a result, plans often end up based on a ‘pretense of knowledge’ rather than real-world evidence or understanding.” ~ Amelia Janaskie & Ryan M. Yonk

Crisis, Government, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

The Inevitable Yo-Yo Ride of Pandemic Fortresses

– May 10, 2021

“In a world where people suddenly ceased traveling it was inevitable that end stations should do comparatively well in every way except economically. Crediting their ‘success’ to government policies is a mistake. Instead, geography appears to be the dominant factor.” ~ Phillip W. Magness & Joakim Book

Crisis, Government, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

Imperial College Predicted Catastrophe in Every Country on Earth. Then the Models Failed.

– May 5, 2021

“Why is Ferguson, who has a long history of absurdly exaggerated modeling predictions, still viewed as a leading authority on pandemic forecasting? And why is the ICL team still advising governments around the world on how to deal with Covid-19 through its flawed modeling approach? In March 2020 ICL sold its credibility for future delivery. That future has arrived, and the results are not pretty.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Crisis, Government, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

The Failure of Imperial College Modeling Is Far Worse than We Knew

– April 22, 2021

“Just over one year ago, the epidemiology modeling of Neil Ferguson and Imperial College played a preeminent role in shutting down most of the world. The exaggerated forecasts of this modeling team are now impossible to downplay or deny, and extend to almost every country on earth. Indeed, they may well constitute one of the greatest scientific failures in modern human history.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Crisis, Media, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

The Lockdowners Have Their Own Conspiracy Theories

– April 2, 2021

“With Gurdasani stressing that she was keen to avoid future lockdowns – a ‘strawman’ in her own words – as late as October 26th, one begins to wonder how she could have supported the very same ‘strawman’ over a month earlier on September 20th, the date on which the dissenting scientists allegedly wrested control of the UK’s pandemic response. Perhaps the lockdowners’ latest conspiracy theory has another as of yet undisclosed twist to it, this one involving a time machine.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Crisis, Healthcare, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

The Many Variants of Fauci’s Mutating Covid Advice

– March 23, 2021

“Although reinfection from new strains continues to be an avenue of research and investigation, the evidence we currently have suggests it remains uncommon. That hasn’t stopped America’s ‘leading infectious disease authority’ from indulging in wildly irresponsible speculation from a national stage though, invariably appealing to alarmism as a pretext for continuing the same failed lockdown policies he has been peddling for over a year now.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

The Disease Models Were Tested and Failed, Massively

– March 19, 2021

“The repeated failures of the Ferguson/ICL model point to a scientific error at the heart of the theory behind lockdowns and similar NPIs. They assume, without evidence, that their prescriptive approach is correct, and that it may be implemented by sheer will as one might achieve by clicking a check-box in a Sim City-style video game. After a year of real-time testing, it is now abundantly clear that this video game approach to pandemic management ranks among the most catastrophic public health policy failures in the last century.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Crisis, Government, Healthcare, Public Choice and Public Policy

Vaccine Central Planning Fails Too

– March 1, 2021

“In both the supply of vaccine doses and the ability to secure an appointment, the primary obstacle facing most Americans is not a lack of interest in vaccination or the fringe anti-vaxx groups that the media dwells upon. It’s the classic obstacles of central planning in allocating a scarce and widely desired good.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

Fauci Was Duplicitous on the AIDS Epidemic Too

– February 23, 2021

“If you want to see an end to the lockdown madness, the ongoing destruction of human lives and livelihoods, and the unprecedented government failures that have come to characterize our daily routines for the last year, the lessons of this administrator’s performance should be obvious. It’s time to stop listening to Fauci, and time to stop treating his wildly inconsistent political posturing as if it carries any scientific authority.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Crisis, Economic Education, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

Too Many Experts, Too Little Knowledge

– January 27, 2021

“The kind of information people acquire in their myriad interactions with others is often undervalued as a means of preventative behavior. As helpful as science is for understanding causal mechanisms — and it is — it should not be the only source of knowledge that informs your behavior, let alone policy.” ~ Byron B. Carson III & David Waugh

Books, Crisis, Public Choice and Public Policy, Science

Don’t Fear the Reaper: A Review of The Plague Cycle by Charles Kenny

– January 21, 2021

“The Plague Cycle is an excellent treatment on the history of infectious diseases and the complex relationship with human societies, and it offers new ways to think about disease prevention going forward. Do pick it up with those reasons in mind, not just because of the implications for Covid-19.” ~ Byron B. Carson III