Looters, Lockdowners, and the Law
“Coronavirus hasn’t been a thing since Friday,” said a friend. “The new story is racism.” Following American media culture can…
Delayed Medical Procedures: Stories from the Front Lines
Last month, there was a bit of a chill in my right molar. My left molar was already capped after…
Will the Politicians Admit Their Lockdown Mistake?
See if you can make sense of the following transcript of an interview with Donald Trump on the lockdown, as…
The 2007 Origins of Forced School Closings and Mandatory Human Separation
The idea of a full lockdown of society in the event of a pandemic first emerged as an extremist proposal…
America Is Opening. It Never Should Have Shut Down
I wanted to celebrate the opening day of breweries in Connecticut. But it was hardly that. Open means freedom of…
Lockdown Suicide Data Reveal Predictable Tragedy
On March 28, the American Institute for Economic Research ran a terrifying article that didn’t receive the attention it deserved,…
Pandemics and the Liberal Path
The record shows that the global economy collapsed not because of the COVID-19 pandemic but because governments around the world,…
Did the Lockdown Save Lives?
For two to three months, Americans have suffered the loss of liberty, security, and prosperity in the name of virus…
The 2006 Origins of the Lockdown Idea
Now begins the grand effort, on display in thousands of articles and news broadcasts daily, somehow to normalize the lockdown…
No Lockdowns: The Terrifying Polio Pandemic of 1949-52
Many people infected with polio don’t show any symptoms. Some become temporarily paralyzed; for others, it’s permanent. In 1952, the…
Elvis Was King, Ike Was President, and 116,000 Americans Died in a Pandemic
The year was 1957. Elvis’s new movie “Jailhouse Rock” was packing the theaters. The last episode of “I Love Lucy”…
Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic
In my lifetime, there was another deadly flu epidemic in the United States. The flu spread from Hong Kong to…
“I’ve Lost Faith in Humanity”: The Psychological Toll of the Lockdown
We have heretofore lived our lives with the presumption that we possess the inalienable right to choose. We are self-governors,…
There Will Be Blowback, In Mostly Good Ways
Two months ago, it had been mandatory in my local grocery to use only shopping bags brought from home. Plastic…
An Egregious Statistical Horror Story Suffused with Incense and Lugubrious Accents
With the latest reports of plummeting death rates from all causes, this crisis is over. The pandemic of doom erupted…
The World Will Backlash, In Mostly Good Ways
Two months ago, it had been mandatory in my local grocery to use only shopping bags brought from home. Plastic…
That Time Jesus Was Quarantined
Most of us didn’t realize, until very recently, what a remarkable stain is put upon a person (or whole people)…
Well, That Unraveled Fast
Thinking back to February 28, 2020, and the New England Journal of Medicine. It published an article called “Covid-19 —…
Virtual Seminars on the World Crisis (Video)
I’ve been busy almost daily with talks on the continuing crisis in our economic lives. There is so much to…
Why Is This Texas Hospital Furloughing Nurses?
If you watch the national news, you hear nonstop and correct reports of crowded hospitals and morgues, exhausted overworked doctors…
Our Ten Days that Shook the World
Jack Reed, the American communist who was buried in the Kremlin, is the author of the extremely exciting book Ten…
With Knowledge Comes Calm, Rationality, and, Possibly, Openness
Thinking back to the information chaos of six weeks ago, we might be able to make some sense of the…
You Are Conserving Toilet Paper, Aren’t You?
You are indeed conserving toilet paper. You have never had such an appreciation for it. It’s “white gold.” There it…
Coronavirus as Ideology
Like you, I try to get out once a day to keep clarity of mind, whether out for a walk…
We Were Wrong: So Sorry that We Ruined Your Life
Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, is moving up in the betting odds for getting the Democratic presidential nomination, even…
The Best-laid Plans Often Go Astray, Even for Macroprudential Regulators
“Sadly, 12 years of stress tests and economic crisis planning never considered the possibility of a pandemic. Let us get…
A Retrospective on the Avian Flu Scare of 2005
On November 1, 2005, President George W. Bush held a press conference in which he called for draconian measures and…
An Epistemic Crisis
This pandemic crisis is not only about health and economics; we are also experiencing an epistemic meltdown. The core question…
Celebrate the Heroes Who Stay Open
I’m writing on the first Saturday of the Coronapocalpyse. I just returned from a shopping trip in town. The laundromat…
In a Disease Panic, the Free Market Is Your Friend
That hand sanitizer you are using, where did you get it? The local store or an online shop. And who…