Casey Mulligan: The FDA began in the early 20th century to check that new drugs coming online were safe. In 1962, it was given a second mandate which is to confirm that the new drugs were also effective. He says Sam Peltzmann's 1973 article on the FDA got an immense amount of attention and had its had a huge impact. This is Casey's third appearance on econ talk; last year he talked about Cuba.
When there's no vaccine on the market, people will look for other ways to be safe, including school closures and the handwashing of groceries. Listen as economist Casey Mulligan of the University Chicago talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the costs of delaying a vaccine, the hidden costs of FDA regulation, and what we learned and failed to learn about the Covid pandemic.