Economists aren’t doctors and doctors aren’t economists. At least most of the time.
If I had to choose between the two types of “experts” to advise policy makers on how best to respond to a pandemic, I would choose the economists.
First things first: in an ideal world nobody would be making society-wide rules for how individuals behave; in the real world tough choices have to be made in an environment of imperfect information. That’s why most of us are very forgiving regarding some of the decisions made during the initial days and weeks of the COVID pandemic. Without good information it made some sense to consider a worst-case scenario and act to prevent it.
But as real-world data came in from places other than China the excuses for poor decisions become thinner, and the ceding of public policy choices to public health officials becomes unforgivable. I say this not only based upon the poor quality of the medical decisions they made–and they made many–but upon my belief that public health officials should never have the last word on any public policy.
If I had to choose between the two types of “experts” to advise policy makers on how best to respond to a pandemic, I would choose the economists.
First things first: in an ideal world nobody would be making society-wide rules for how individuals behave; in the real world tough choices have to be made in an environment of imperfect information. That’s why most of us are very forgiving regarding some of the decisions made during the initial days and weeks of the COVID pandemic. Without good information it made some sense to consider a worst-case scenario and act to prevent it.
But as real-world data came in from places other than China the excuses for poor decisions become thinner, and the ceding of public policy choices to public health officials becomes unforgivable. I say this not only based upon the poor quality of the medical decisions they made–and they made many–but upon my belief that public health officials should never have the last word on any public policy.
