The Great Barrington Declaration - You Drop a Teddy Cost

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Public health officials have a choice just like economists, just like politicians as to whether to get on the bandwagon of making sure everyone's really scared. I don't want to miss our chance to talk about externalities and raw coals because I think there was a profound moment after George Floyd died. People understood that a negative externality by itself is not sufficient to invoke a government ban. There are many, many things that are lost if we are prevented by law or by fear from congregating with others.

Economist Don Boudreaux of George Mason University talks about the pandemic with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Boudreaux argues that a perfect storm of factors created a huge overreaction, including unnecessary lockdowns that accomplished little at a very high cost in physical and emotional health. Instead, Boudreaux argues, we should have focused attention on the population most at risk of dying from COVID--the elderly and especially the elderly with co-morbidities. The conversation includes a discussion of externalities and the insights of Ronald Coase applied to the policies during the pandemic.