Reason Magazine senior editor Jacob Sullum talks to Scott about some of the latest coronavirus news. He comments on President Trump’s headline-making claim that he has the sole authority to decide if and when the economy would reopen, which Sullum asserts really belongs to the governors. Trump has backed away from his claim, but he still appears to support making progress toward reopening businesses sooner rather than later. Doing so would probably be a good thing, says Sullum, since the economic toll of the current measures have already been devastating, and only continue to get worse. Sullum reminds us that political decisions are often made with respect to the obvious consequences, and rarely to the unseen ones. For us, this means that politicians are likely to be overcautious in shutting things down without properly considering the massive toll to both the economy and to human life that is sure to result from such drastic restrictions.
Discussed on the show:
“Trump Can Encourage States to Lift Their COVID-19 Lockdowns, but He Can’t Decree That Outcome (Reason)“The ‘False Debate’ About Reopening the Economy Is the One That Ignores the Enormous Human Cost of Sweeping COVID-19 Control Measures” (Reason)“U.N. warns economic downturn could kill hundreds of thousands of children in 2020” (Reuters)“L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva Says Gun Dealers Are ‘Nonessential.’ The Department of Homeland Security Disagrees.” (Reason/)
Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason and a nationally syndicated columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jacobsullum.
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Scott Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from this website. He’s the author of the 2017 book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan. Visit https://scotthorton.org