Posted on 03/26/2020 5:31:07 AM PDT by Kaslin
The debate in the United States over whether to move away from free markets and toward socialism may change dramatically as the latest coronavirus spreads throughout the world. That’s because in the fight against the global pandemic, we’ll likely witness one of the most compelling arguments in our lifetimes emerge in favor of free-market systems – and lives will be saved in the process.
The pandemic will demonstrate that nations with the freest markets and freest people tend to have the health care systems with the greatest capacity to handle such a crisis. Free-market incentives have produced health care systems that have better capacities in terms of beds, equipment and medical personnel to handle increased caseloads. Those incentives have also spurred innovations that have led to some of the greatest medical advances in history.
Moreover, nations with both private-sector companies that are financially incentivized to work quickly for a cure, and governments willing to remove regulatory obstacles to innovation, are more likely to develop the treatments to abate the disease or possibly even find a cure.
Countries with freer markets also tend to be more resilient in times of crisis and more capable of handling external shocks. Thanks to their free-market incentives as well as the flexibility to respond to changing conditions that comes with less government central planning, they have the widest availability of food, medicine, and other crucial necessities.
This is not conjecture. The Heritage Foundation’s annual “Index of Economic Freedom,” the latest edition of which was released just days ago, provides the indisputable data showing that citizens who live in nations with greater economic freedom have better health outcomes overall.
Economic freedom is represented by a variety of factors such as smaller, less intrusive government; lower taxes; reduced regulations on people and businesses; an environment that makes it easier for average citizens to start or operate a business; and the protection of private property rights, including protections like patents for new innovations.
The index has measured economic freedom in approximately 180 countries around the world for the last 26 years and shows that greater economic freedom has decreased poverty, created more prosperous economies, and increased positive health outcomes and life expectancies across the globe. Greater economic freedom has led to better health care systems, better education systems, a greater abundance of food, cleaner environments, and a higher quality of life for citizens.
Recently, Heritage Foundation researchers put the Index of Economic Freedom side-by-side with the Johns Hopkins’ Global Health Security Index, which measures countries’ capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. Not surprisingly, they found a high correlation between economic freedom and health security.
Countries that Heritage ranked as “free” or “mostly free” in the economic freedom index also tended to score the highest on the health security index, while countries ranked as “mostly unfree” or “repressed” tended to score the lowest, indicating a poor ability to respond to infectious diseases.
In the coming months, we will be watching how countries across the economic freedom spectrum respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. I have little doubt that we’ll see it’s the world’s freest nations that will do the best job of finding treatments and possibly a cure. Ultimately, their medical advances will be shared with all nations and used to save lives around the world.
That isn’t gloating; that is a sincere hope that such a critical demonstration of the power of economic freedom will encourage every nation to adopt more free-market approaches so that their citizens don’t just overcome this pandemic, but go on to live longer, healthier, and more prosperous lives.
It’s also my hope that some in our own government learn these lessons as well and don’t use this crisis as an opportunity to erode our personal and economic freedoms and push for spending free-for-alls. Any legislation to address the crisis must be targeted to the people who actually need it, temporary for only as long as the crisis lasts, and transparent – directed at fighting the coronavirus and aiding public health, not aiding special interests.
That is how we will emerge from this pandemic stronger than we were before.
Government has been way too interventionist in obscuring the price signal for decades. Not saying there should be none, but they have blurred the line so far into their favor (note how the interventions, and associated bureaucracies, never go away)
Masks and goggles are critical.
When everyone wears a mask, it will be safer to go out and safer to go to work.
But until then, we need to lock down. It may be a while before mask production is ramped sufficiently to provide for both healthcare workers and the public.
Retailers and restaurants need to get over the “appearance of normal” and encourage or even demand their workers to wear masks. Both for protection of their employees and their customers.
The Communist Chinese have won their war against the virus.
Hopefully the Chinese are ramping up ventilator production.
And don’t forget about mask and gown production Xi.
Whatever happened to MAGA?
At this point tens of thousands of retail and restaurant people working with the public are exposed to at least one infected person daily.
Trump needs to make a call to OSHA.
Perhaps plastic mask frames that people can place fragments of old clothes in and snap together can be made
We still can make plastic moldings in the USA.
The badly designed spending bill probably will be the law of the land by midnight.
Almost 500 elections must be bought and paid for.
Chinese companies are eagarly awaiting $1200 windfalls.
“lock down”
Grocery stores and NYC mass transit are leading vectors.
Restaurants with tables spread 30 feet apart over streets and parking lots would actually be a lower risk.
“lock down”
Grocery stores and NYC mass transit are leading vectors.
Restaurants with tables spread 30 feet apart over streets and parking lots would actually be a lower risk.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of TOTALITARIANS.
U.S.S.A. United Socialist States of America lock down citizens, hold rest of republic HOSTAGE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcsvE1zv1ek
Socialism Is Legal Plunder and DEATH. WITNESS history and current events.
PROPAGANDISTS are essential.
ENEMIES foreign and domestic.
For there to be prosperity, there needs to be as many people working as productively as possible.
Government handouts lead to poverty and misery.
I hear Publix and someone else, Walmart? are installing plexiglass barriers between checkout clerks and customers.
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