The Power of Freedom

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Casey Marligan: The idea of opportunity costs went from the number one hardest thing to teach in economics classes to the number one easiest thing to teach through the pandemic. He says many people who were when it hit, many people felt that the risk was so large of association and we had to stay home as much as possible. Russ Roberts: Anyone who lived through this pandemic will not have as much trouble understanding the opportunity costs because they saw it.

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.