Topic: Science

School Closure: A Careful Review of the Evidence

– February 19, 2021

“Why have these school closures gone on for so long? What was the reason for this very flawed policy, as it surely is not based on available research data or even common sense for that matter? This is tantamount to sabotage of our children by government officials, Teachers’ unions, seemingly unskilled medical experts, and public health agencies, the latter charged with the health and well-being of our societies.” ~ AIER Contributing Authors

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science, Video

Anatomy of the Nursing Home Death Warrants

– February 16, 2021

“The buck does indeed stop with the elected leaders who made the fateful decisions to send sick COVID patients into nursing homes, lock down their states, and mask up their citizens in perpetuity, but that’s only half of the story. The bad data they used almost exclusively came from the Gates network, which has trafficked in pseudoscience and has demonstrated complete incompetence and reckless forecasting since the beginning of last year.” ~ Jordan Schachtel

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

A Pandemic of Ignorance

– February 16, 2021

“Putting the lessons of political economy together (especially along with some elementary knowledge of statistical tricks) would have allowed Americans to better assess policymakers’ claims about Covid-19 transmission and the best ways to mitigate it and hence peacefully to resist unprecedented policies of dubious constitutionality and little scientific merit.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

Masking: A Careful Review of the Evidence

– February 11, 2021

“The predominant conclusion is that face masks have a very important role in places such as hospitals, but there exists very little evidence of widespread benefit for members of the public (adults or children) as well as evidence that masking is truly an ineffectual way to manage pandemic-related spread of viral disease. Our view is that masks as they are worn now, and the masks that are in use, offer zero protection. They can be viewed as ineffective while others consider them as being better than nothing but without evidence to support that view.” ~ AIER Contributing Authors

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

Are Mask Mandates in Violation of Federal Law?

– February 10, 2021

“The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was established, in part, to put forth uniform standards based upon scientific justification for use. There are no uniform standards when it comes to mask mandates, just as there is no scientific justification. But, since most of the actions that have been taken since March of 2020 have been in violation of the US Constitution itself, why should we expect that to change now?” ~ Roger W. Koops

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

How a Virus Was Used To Transform a Free Country — Part 2

– February 9, 2021

“As Americans grow increasingly more desperate, the government continues to restrict peoples’ options. The CARES Act epitomized the tenet of redistribution of wealth, growing the numbers of Americans dependent upon the government, and vastly increasing the size and power of government.” ~ Sandy Szwarc

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

The TSA’s New Mask Mandate

– February 8, 2021

“Can the TSA reform its searches and other procedures so that its own employees avoid getting denounced as ‘Typhoid Marys?’ Is ‘social distancing’ from boneheaded enforcement agents asking too much? Alas, it is difficult to expect reasonable policies from an agency that still seems inspired by one of its first mottoes: ‘Dominate. Intimidate. Control.'” ~ James Bovard

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

I Can’t Stop Wondering About Covid-19

– February 8, 2021

“Why on all matters Covid do so many otherwise sensible, appropriately skeptical, and numerate people – people who understand the necessity of trade-offs, the reality of unintended consequences, and the dangers of government power – lose their judgment and remain in the ranks of the hysterical masses who treat Covid as the existential threat that it most certainly is not? I can’t stop wondering why.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

How a Virus Was Used To Transform a Free Country

– February 8, 2021

“It’s undeniably evident that the CARES Act was focused on the progressive tenet of redistribution of wealth and growing the numbers of Americans dependent upon the government. Money is taken from working taxpayers, given to those who aren’t, expanding social programs and the size and power of government entities, while lining the pockets of special interests.” ~ Sandy Szwarc

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

How Much Does Cleaning Everything Really Help?

– February 3, 2021

“These issues all boil down to opportunity cost. The time and resources directed towards extra cleaning could be used for an alternative activity that would reap higher benefits for the business, especially in the midst of economic turmoil.” ~ Amelia Janaskie

Crisis, Media, Science

Seven Times “Superspreader” Events Were Overblown

– February 3, 2021

“In an international comparison between countries that implemented lockdown policies and those that did not, Stanford University researchers found ‘no evidence of large anti-contagion effects from mandatory stay-at-home and business closure policies.’ Perhaps if the media reported on these findings, there wouldn’t be a superspreader LAPD task force forcibly dispersing ‘nonessential’ gatherings.” ~ Micha Gartz & Jack Nicastro

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

The Flight of the Covid Quacks

– February 2, 2021

“Even the most statist public health official completely oblivious to Hayekian critiques of central planning must know, deep down, that issuing general medical orders from on high is quackery. They now flee in great flocks but what will it matter if other quacks replace them? We don’t need new public health officials. We need a reformed healthcare model with incentives more carefully aligned to individual needs.” ~ Robert E. Wright