Free Republic

If the American public stays home en masse even after public officials lift stay-at-home orders, the ‘re-opened’ economy will look nearly as morose as the current one. If we reopen it, will they come? That paraphrase of the signature line from “Field of Dreams” illustrates a dilemma facing the Trump administration, along with state and local leaders, as they contemplate when and how to reopen elements of the economy shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.Just because the Trump administration gives word that individuals and businesses can reopen doesn’t mean that most, or even any, of them will do so.A dozen...

While this shutdown has already done enormous damage, it is the uncertainty about when and how it will reopen that could prove far more destructive in the long run. Our leadership class responded to the outbreak of the coronavirus by shutting down the economy on a nationwide scale. While this will mitigate the loss of life the virus might otherwise have caused, it’s clear we’re also confronting a challenge no medical innovation can cure. We face an unprecedented situation — not a global pandemic, we’ve seen those before, but a modern capitalist economy that turned itself off for potentially more...

It is vitally important, literally life and death, that the proper costs and benefits are weighed with the decision on how much and how long to shut down economic activity through the pandemic. As the coronavirus pandemic continues across the world, leaders and policymakers have scrambled to respond to the growing health crisis. In the United States, multiple state governors have issued statements urging their citizens to follow social distancing guidelines.Other governors have taken more extreme measures, issuing orders to effectively lock down entire state economies. The current goal of these responses has been to slow the spread of the...

Australia will be forced to look overseas for more new citizens as rising health and aged care costs threaten to drive the country into debt by 2050, Treasury figures released today show. The 2010 Intergenerational Report, launched by Treasurer Wayne Swan today, outlines the economic challenges facing Australia's economy over the next 40 years as the workforce participation rate drops and ageing baby boomers demand more from the country's health and aged care services. It also argues that with the population set to hit 35 million by 2050 the country's immigration intake will need to be maintained or boosted to...