9/11, the Financial Crisis, and Now Coronavirus
The Reason Roundtable podcast looks at the crappy track record of government policy forged in crisis.
Before we launch into the long, grim coronavirus discussion on today's Reason Roundtable podcast, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch offer some remembrances of the great anti-war libertarian Jon Basil Utley, who passed away this Friday after living one hell of a life. The Reason family offers condolences to Utley's family, and gratitude for having known and worked with such a sweet and tireless friend of liberty.
For the rest of the show, the gang (including Peter Suderman) spend a lot of time probing the forgotten policymaking lessons that should have been learned after the previous two catastrophes of the 21st century: 9/11 and the financial crisis of 2008. Are we overreacting? Is there any meaningful cost-benefit analysis being done on the impact of shutting down whole swaths of the economy? Are politicians stuffing must-pass bills with special-interest giveaways and ideological hobby horses? Some questions probably answer themselves…
Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.
Music credit: 'Open The Box' by Geographer.
Relevant links from the show:
"Return to the Gulag," by Reason Staff
"Is National Shelter-In-Place Coming Soon?" by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"We Will Regret Not Taking the Economic Effects of Mass Quarantine More Seriously," by Nick Gillespie
"With COVID-19, That Which Is Not Forbidden Is Mandatory—and Subsidized," by J.D. Tuccille
"The Prison Coronavirus Disaster Everybody Warned About Is Unfolding in New York City," by Scott Shackford
"Sen. Rand Paul Tests Positive for the Coronavirus," by Scott Shackford
"'It's a Very Large Package': Coronavirus Stimulus Plan Now Costs More Than $1 Trillion," by Billy Binion
"Justice Department Reportedly Asks Congress for Indefinite Detention Powers To Fight Coronavirus," by Eric Boehm
"States Can't Shut Down Non-Essential Businesses Without Harming Essential Ones," by Eric Boehm
"Shuttering Farmers Markets Over COVID-19 Is Stupid, Dangerous, and Counterproductive," by Baylen Linnekin
"Our Best Weapon Against Coronavirus Is To Test Everybody," by Ronald Bailey
"Cocktail Delivery Isn't Just for Pandemics," by Billy Binion
"What Economic Analyses of Past Pandemics Can Tell Us About the COVID-19 Aftermath," by Brian Doherty
