Covid is not a very dangerous disease for most people. The death rate is probably around 0.2 per cent of those infected, and most who die are elderly and suffering from other medical conditions. The mortality of those in hospital with Covid has almost halved for the over 80s since the start of the epidemic as treatment has improved.
Lockdowns are lethal. They cause more deaths from cancer, heart disease and suicide as well as job losses, bankruptcies, social disintegration and mental illness especially among the young, who are at least risk from the virus. In April sunshine, many people and firms could cope for a short period – once. Today, in November rain, the pain will be far worse. I will be all right, living in a rural area and able to work online, but what of those who started restaurants or live alone in small flats?
There is overwhelming support in the scientific community for national lockdown, say scientists, but the scientific community and the civil service are on secure public-sector salaries and think in top-down ways.
Peter Earle reminds us of Boston’s 2013 lockdown.
Once again, Election Day in America has come and gone with some lingering questions as to when the results will be certified. In the run-up to the presidential contest, each side overflowed with hope about the many wonders its guy, once in power, might bring about. Unfortunately, for those of us who prefer smaller government—for those of us who value individual liberty as an end in itself—neither candidate really promised fiscal solvency or less government interference in our lives.
Despite corporate tax reform, deregulatory efforts, some criminal justice reforms, and an anti-socialist rhetoric, President Donald Trump has shown little interest in free market policies. His administration promised and failed to get rid of the Affordable Care Act and would have likely replaced it with what is best described as Obamacare Light. With the Republicans’ support, Trump opened wide the spending spigot for the Pentagon and its defense contractors. Ditto for other kinds of spending, much of which was irresponsibly funded with debt.
…. and Ilya Somin does the same.
Here are Arnold Kling’s reasonable reflections on Tuesday’s election results.
