After what may have seemed like an eternity to all who have suffered coronavirus pain and death, with June at hand, America has witnessed 19 brutal weeks since its first coronavirus case was identified on January 22. But while these 19 weeks may seem like an eon, it is still the case that owing to high social media speed, actions taken to contain the virus have occurred in record time.

This week, we're very happy to be able to connect our listeners once again with Dr. Bruce Yandle, Distinguished Adjunct Fellow at Mercatus, Dean Emeritus at Clemson University, and author of the now-famous “Bootleggers and Baptists” model for understanding unlikely political alliances.

Matthew Mitchell, Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Equity Initiative at the Mercatus Center, interviews Bruce on his most recent Economic Situation Report, discussing the race for a vaccine, the battered coronavirus economy, the rise of the command economy, the virus' impact on retail and food sales, and the ease of certain regulations due to COVID-19.

Interested in hearing more content like this on the download? Please reach out to dfloer@mercatus.gmu.edu. 

If you'd like to get in touch with a Mercatus Scholar featured on the download, please reach out to Matthew Boyer at mboyer@mercatus.gmu.edu.