The FDA and CDC's Coronavirus Response Is a 'Failure of Historic Proportions'
A Q&A with Alex Tabarrok, an economist at George Mason University and blogger at Marginal Revolution
Public Health
Is Preventing COVID-19 Deaths Worth a Severe Recession? The Answer Depends on Controversial Assumptions About the Epidemic's Lethality.
A cost-benefit analysis of COVID-19 lockdowns highlights crucial gaps in the data.
New York City Jails Now Have at Least 75 Confirmed Coronavirus Infections
Another 300 low-level offenders set to be released, but the city’s jails house more than 5,000.
Stop Ignoring the Different Needs of Rural Areas and Cities Responding to COVID-19
A uniform national response risks doing more harm than good in a nation that’s not uniform.
Is Wearing a Face Mask in Public To Ward Off COVID-19 a Crime?
It depends on the state where you live.
Tech Companies Weren't Hoarding Masks, They Were Protecting Employees From Wildfire Smoke
Plus: Kudlow says total stimulus package will cost $6 trillion, jails free nonviolent offenders, more...
Trump Is Right To Worry About the Cost of Aggressive COVID-19 Control Measures
So far politicians have been acting as if only one side of the ledger matters.
Only Social Darwinians Worry About the Harm Caused by COVID-19 Lockdowns, Andrew Cuomo Says
The point of shutting down the "nonessential" economy, New York's governor explains, is to "save lives, period, whatever it costs."
Richard Epstein Cops to a 'Stupid Gaffe' in Controversial Coronavirus Essay That Caught Trump Administration Attention
But he stands by his reasoning and predicts that global deaths will peak under 50,000.
FDA Relaxes Rules To Allow for More Ventilators, Finally
Restrictions have been loosened to help ramp up production.
Texas, Ohio Officials Use COVID-19 as an Excuse To Restrict Abortion
Plus: the pandemic in prisons, pushback on Trump's prescription for economic rebound, and more...
Coronavirus Fears Mount in D.C. Jail After Quarantines
Lawyers, inmates' families, and correctional officers worry the jail is ill-prepared to handle an outbreak.
Two Reasons the Worst-Case Scenarios for COVID-19 Seem Unrealistic
The mortality rate is much lower than the official numbers suggest, and adaptive behavior affects the transmission rate.
We Will Regret Not Taking the Economic Effects of Mass Quarantine More Seriously
The government botched the early response to coronavirus, so why expect it to grow in competence now?
With COVID-19, That Which Is Not Forbidden Is Mandatory—and Subsidized
When this is all over, don’t expect politicians to lose their taste for ordering us around.
Shuttering Farmers Markets Over COVID-19 Is Stupid, Dangerous, and Counterproductive
Especially during a pandemic, Americans need access to healthy food.
'We're All in Quarantine Now,' Says Andrew Cuomo, Who Two Days Ago Said That Was Out of the Question
New York's governor insists his edict "mandating that 100% of the workforce must stay home" is "not a shelter-in-place order."
Rich Connecticut NIMBYs Don't Want Your Filthy Coronavirus Tests Near Them
Their complaints shut down an important pandemic-fighting tool. Fortunately, a substitute plan has been found.
If COVID-19 Killed 1.4% of People With Symptoms in Wuhan, the Overall Fatality Rate Is Likely to Be Much Lower Than People Feared
The big unknown is how many people are infected but aren't counted in the official numbers because their symptoms are mild or nonexistent.
What Economic Analyses of Past Pandemics Can Tell Us About the COVID-19 Aftermath
A big contraction was followed by a bustling aftermath—but with notable negative long-term effects as well.
U.K.'s Response to Coronavirus: Loosen Some Regulations While Demanding More Authority
If this is to respond to a temporary crisis, why do these powers last for two years?
Gavin Newsom Orders 40 Million Californians To Stay Home During Coronavirus Crisis. Is He Right To Do It?
The spread of COVID-19 is making once unthinkably extreme policies seem like the least bad option.
Stop Looking for 'Leadership' During the COVID-19 Outbreak
If you really want politicians to do something helpful, ask them to stop "leading" and to get out of the way.
'The Fear, the Panic, Is a Bigger Problem Than the Virus,' Says New York's Governor
The "panic" Andrew Cuomo has in mind is a rational response to the threat of an economically ruinous government overreaction.
Can Our Shuttered Auto Plants Make Ventilators for Coronavirus Patients? And Will the Government Let Them?
GM’s CEO is offering to help. She shouldn't wait for the feds to figure out what to do.
Health Bureaucrats Botched the Response to Coronavirus. Trump Made It Even Worse.
How broken bureaucracy and poor political leadership combined to botch the rollout of COVID-19 testing
Don't Expect Millions To Die From Coronavirus, Says Richard Epstein
The NYU Law professor thinks we're in for a mess of bad epidemiology, ineffective stimulus, and misguided quarantines.
Will Aggressive COVID-19 Control Measures Cost More Than They Are Worth?
Politicians seem to be proceeding on the dangerous assumption that cost-effectiveness does not matter.
Richard Epstein: 'More Probable Than Not…Total Number of Deaths at Under 50,000'
The worst-case scenarios projecting millions of deaths don't take into account adaptive behaviors.
Tyler Cowen Thinks Coronavirus Could Be This Generation's World War II
The Mercatus economist on why the private sector could provide the best response to the coronavirus, why the government should go big anyway, and how the current crisis could help America reinvent itself.
Stop It With the Coronavirus Curfews Already
Self-imprisonment orders from panicky politicians are not a prudent way to flatten the curve.
Trump Says Coronavirus Crisis Could Last Until July or August
The White House has issued new 15-day guidelines for slowing the spread of the coronavirus. The president implied at a press conference that crisis measures could be needed for much longer.
The CDC's Shift From Vaping to COVID-19 Highlights the Crucial Differences Between Real and Metaphorical Epidemics
The agency's scaremongering about e-cigarettes undermined its credibility on the eve of a true public health crisis.
COVID-19 Reminds Us: Social Media Is Good, Actually
Will coronavirus help rehabilitate tech's rep?
Price-Gouging Laws Will Do More Harm Than Good During the Coronavirus Pandemic
High prices for sought-after goods cause temporary pain, but not as much as government efforts to "help" frustrated consumers.
Tired: There Are No Libertarians in a Pandemic. Wired: There Are Only Libertarians in a Pandemic.
From relaxed TSA rules to speedy FDA approvals, the coronavirus is forcing authorities to admit many of their regulations are unnecessary.
Politicians Declare Eviction Moratoriums To Combat Coronavirus. Will They Give Up That Power After the Virus Fades?
Emergency measures can easily become routine policy.
Americans Act To Flatten the Coronavirus Epidemic Curve
"Individual behavior will be crucial to control the spread of COVID-19."
America Doesn't Have Enough Hospital Beds To Fight the Coronavirus. Protectionist Health Care Regulations Are One Reason Why.
Federal bureaucracy slowed America's response to the new coronavirus outbreak. Now state-level red tape is now poised to cause more problems.
Coronavirus. We Got This.
Despite the slow-growing anxieties and government incompetence, expect Americans to be resilient in fighting the pandemic.
COVID-19: A National Problem With Local Solutions
Also: Chelsea Manning finally freed, coronavirus appropriations, and more...
Walmart's New Clinics Are a Free Market Experiment in Health Care Reform
No one will ever head to Walmart for a kidney transplant, but retail companies and profit-based clinics certainly can offer high-quality, lower-level services—and impose market discipline in a sector that sorely needs it.
Do Pandemics Strengthen the Case for Restricting Immigration? [updated with response to Jason Richwine]
Temporary quarantines and other targeted restrictions might be justified. But pandemics do not justify more general migration restrictions. Indeed, the latter often actually imperil health.
To Fight Coronavirus, Trump Wants a Trillion-Dollar Stimulus That Could Make the Crisis Worse
Trump wants a poorly targeted, budget-busting payroll tax that might encourage sick people to work.
Is a 1% Case Fatality Rate for COVID-19 Bad News or Good News?
It depends on how widely the virus spreads, which is difficult to predict.
Balaji Srinivasan: Coronavirus Will Shape This Decade Like 9/11 Shaped the 2000s
The biotech entrepreneur and Silicon Valley visionary wants mandatory quarantines and a "digital Dunkirk" rescue operation.
