Is Government Doing Too Much or Too Little With Coronavirus?

Sure, people say sometimes that the past is a different planet. But the past week?

Yet here are, the world shutting down all around us, anxiously comparing coronavirus growth curves to Italy and South Korea, retreating to four-way remote podcasting set-ups, trying to make sense of a story that changes seemingly by the hour. On today’s Reason Roundtable, Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch offer different perspectives in the teeth of a pandemic.

What part of today’s clampdown is with us for the long haul? What does this once-a-century challenge tell us about comparative health policies? Are we comfortable with mayors and governors shutting down entire swaths of the economy? Did Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders recalibrate their presidential pitches even a little bit? And how will Nick tie this all back in to some 1970s Charlton Heston movie? These are among the questions that you can listen being addressed right here.

Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.

Music credit: ‘Ninja Tortoise’ by Verified Picasso

Relevant links from the show:

“Coronavirus Is the Health of the State,” by J.D. Tuccille

“COVID-19 Reminds Us: Social Media Is Good, Actually,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

“Coronavirus Epidemic May Be Slowed by Warm and Humid Weather,” by Ronald Bailey

“The Coronavirus Debate Was Bernie Sanders’ Last Chance. He Blew It,” by Robby Soave

“Price-Gouging Laws Will Do More Harm Than Good During the Coronavirus Pandemic,” by J.D. Tuccille

“Biden Promises ‘Major, Major, Major Bailouts’ in Response to Coronavirus,” by Eric Boehm

“Trump Gets What He Wants as Federal Reserve Interest Rate Target Drops to Zero,” by Brian Doherty

“Tired: There Are No Libertarians in a Pandemic. Wired: There Are Only Libertarians in a Pandemic,” by Nick Gillespie

“Coronavirus Is Going To Be Expensive. Too Bad the Government Is Already in Massive Debt,” by Eric Boehm