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Authored by Tho Bishop via The Mises Institute,

[This is the preface for the Mises Institute’s new online book Anatomy of the Crash: The Financial Crisis of 2020.]

“End the Fed!” Three small words became one of the most improbable and powerful political chants in modern politics thanks to the presidential campaigns of Dr. Ron Paul. With the backdrop of a global financial crisis, the congressman from Texas was able to use the microphone of modern politics, forever changed by the internet and social media, to wake up a generation of Americans to the threat posed by central banks and fiat money. Ideological gatekeepers in Washington and the corporate press found themselves forced to recognize and attack a previously obscure school of economic thought that was now being talked about by college students, activists, and even the odd politician.

Of course, no such movements ever truly happen overnight. The seeds of the international Austrian revival were planted when Ludwig von Mises escaped World War II Europe and made a home for himself in America. With positions at New York University and the Foundation for Economic Education, Mises was able to develop a legion of followers in both academia and the public at large. Several students of his NYU seminar, such as Israel Kirzner, Hans Sennholz, and Ralph Raico, became important Austrian scholars in their own right. It was, however, Murray Rothbard who was perhaps Mises’s most significant mentee, with not only significant contributions to economics, history, and political philosophy, but popular writings aimed at energizing a grassroots Austro-libertarian movement far outside the restraints of the ivory tower.

Rothbard’s potent blend of serious scholarship and dynamic popularism became a model for the Mises Institute, which he helped found with Lew Rockwell in 1982. Since the beginning, the Institute has been both an incubator for new generations of Austrian scholars and a fount of education for the public at large.

Anyone who is familiar with the works of Mises, Rothbard, and the Austrian school understands how far removed they are from the progressive-dominated zeitgeist that has long controlled the most powerful microphones of the West. Although this carries with it the curse of limiting the influence that it could have with policymakers in government, it also means that it benefits from times when the public questions the very foundations of the institutions that it was indoctrinated to believe in.

2008 was such a time. Unfortunately, 2020 appears to be one as well.

The purpose of this collection is to highlight the important work of contemporary Austrian economists on the modern financial system. Although the mainstream financial press has been crediting American, European, and Chinese policymakers with upholding the global economy in the aftermath of 2008, Austrians have long been warning that these very same actions have only set the world up for a larger disaster. Promises in 2008 of the ease of normalizing monetary policy—such as by reducing balance sheets and phasing out market intervention—have been proven to be lies, just as Austrians warned.

While the government response to the coronavirus may serve as a catalyst for the next crisis, it is the irresponsible actions of central bankers, governments, and globalist institutions that will make the pain so much more intense. Worse still, the response will be led by individuals who are only versed in the same failed ideologies that brought us to where we are now.

The first section is a look back at major policy decisions that brought us to where we are now. One of the important aims of this collection is to highlight the truly global nature of these failings, not simply critiquing the actions of the Federal Reserve, but their colleagues at the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and elsewhere. It is the coordinated attempt by central bankers around the world to try to bolster markets by hiding and mispricing underlying financial risk that has only served to escalate the fragility of the global economy.

This is followed by a look forward to what we might expect from policymakers as they are forced to respond. The combined fiscal and monetary response to the coronavirus and the government-imposed lockdown has highlighted the degree to which central bankers and modern governments feel completely unhampered by concerns about inflation or government debt. Every attempt will be made to prop up the financial bubbles they have created, and these actions will only compound the fundamental issues we face. Of course, as economic decision-makers become ever more drastic in their thought, we can expect them to resort more to using the full authoritarian powers of the modern state.

Lastly, the book looks at placing the ideas of the Austrian school within the context of the modern world.  Although questions of underlying ideology may be dismissed by “practical” individuals who pride themselves on being “independent thinkers,” Mises understood the degree to which our intellectual environment directly guides policy and institutional frameworks. In the aftermath of the challenging times that may be ahead, the only way to build a stronger, more prosperous, and more stable future will be with an ideological revolution.

I hope that you will find this collection of articles enlightening, even if the ramifications of their content mean difficulty in the short term.

* * *

Controversy is ensuing over viral images and video showing Florida beaches swarming with crowds a mere day after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said they could reopen based on local leaders’ and counties’ discretion.

The Hill reports, “Images of people flocking to beaches in the Jacksonville, Fla., area went viral on Twitter on Saturday, prompting backlash from users on the platform and the hashtag #FloridaMorons.”

Among the first beaches to reopen to the public was in Jacksonville, where Mayor Lenny Curry (R) declared “This can be the beginning of the pathway back to normal life.”

Large crowds flock to the beaches in Jacksonville, FL as they reopen https://t.co/50D7xh4vZ5 pic.twitter.com/y7YBsychfZ

— The Hill (@thehill) April 19, 2020

Restrictions till required beach-goers in Jacksonville and other Florida beaches to avoid gathering in crowds, remain six feet apart from non-family members, and to avoid setting up chairs and tents.

As of Saturday Curry said residents were practicing “social distancing and responsible behavior” as he defended the move to open up the beaches.

#Florida beach is crowded within 30 MINUTES of reopening at 5pm, despite state recording 1,413 new #COVID19 cases – its highest one-day increase since the pandemic crisis began #floridabeaches #FloridaMorons #SaturdayMorning #SaturdayThoughts #StayAtHomehttps://t.co/j85ET7wcMe pic.twitter.com/Y9OTppl9Co

— Evan Kirstel #StayHome #RemoteWork (@evankirstel) April 18, 2020

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is also expected to soon announce reopening of area beaches, however, the precise date is unclear, but is expected to happen this coming week. 

The largely Republican decision-makers in Florida appear to be using the momentum that President Trump set in motion Thursday in announcing guidelines for a ‘phased reopening’ of the US economy, which ultimately gives powers to the governors to enact the steps.

As is always the case in this polarized time, not everyone was supportive of the re-opening. Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Omari Hardy tweeted angrily (and clearly politically):

“When a person doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things.”

“When a person in power doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things that hurt the public. This move is so dumb that I had to make sure it wasn’t fake news. You guys, it isn’t fake news.”

And Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who contracted coronavirus himself, called the reopening in Jacksonville “very concerning,” adding that Florida was “not out of the woods yet” and the consequences of reopening too soon were “very, very scary.”

As of Sunday morning Florida has 25,492 COVID-19 cases with 748 reported fatalities, with most cases concentrated in Central Florida among people ages 65 and older. 

Jacksonville’s mayor defended the controversial move to reopen by arguing citizens can remain cautious and sensible while going back out to public venues: 

Thank you Jacksonville. I appreciate your social distancing and responsible behavior as we opened our beaches for walking, swimming, running etc. No groups congregating. 5 pm to 8pm opening tonight. This is the 7pm shot from Councilman Diamond from the beach. Well done Jax https://t.co/VPVrhG40zC

— Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) April 18, 2020

It should be noted that the predicted explosion in numbers of cases in the South has yet to materialize on the level expected.

Thus we could see a situation in which the hard-hit tri-state area as well as places like Michigan continue to peak, while at the same time looking on southern states’ earlier than expected return to relative ‘normalcy’. 

Authored by Marc Andreesen via a16z.com,

Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings. This monumental failure of institutional effectiveness will reverberate for the rest of the decade, but it’s not too early to ask why, and what we need to do about it.

Many of us would like to pin the cause on one political party or another, on one government or another. But the harsh reality is that it all failed — no Western country, or state, or city was prepared — and despite hard work and often extraordinary sacrifice by many people within these institutions. So the problem runs deeper than your favorite political opponent or your home nation.

Part of the problem is clearly foresight, a failure of imagination. But the other part of the problem is what we didn’t *do* in advance, and what we’re failing to do now. And that is a failure of action, and specifically our widespread inability to *build*.

We see this today with the things we urgently need but don’t have. We don’t have enough coronavirus tests, or test materials — including, amazingly, cotton swabs and common reagents. We don’t have enough ventilators, negative pressure rooms, and ICU beds. And we don’t have enough surgical masks, eye shields, and medical gowns — as I write this, New York City has put out a desperate call for rain ponchos to be used as medical gowns. Rain ponchos! In 2020! In America!

We also don’t have therapies or a vaccine — despite, again, years of advance warning about bat-borne coronaviruses. Our scientists will hopefully invent therapies and a vaccine, but then we may not have the manufacturing factories required to scale their production. And even then, we’ll see if we can deploy therapies or a vaccine fast enough to matter — it took scientists 5 years to get regulatory testing approval for the new Ebola vaccine after that scourge’s 2014 outbreak, at the cost of many lives.

In the U.S., we don’t even have the ability to get federal bailout money to the people and businesses that need it. Tens of millions of laid off workers and their families, and many millions of small businesses, are in serious trouble *right now*, and we have no direct method to transfer them money without potentially disastrous delays. A government that collects money from all its citizens and businesses each year has never built a system to distribute money to us when it’s needed most.

Why do we not have these things? Medical equipment and financial conduits involve no rocket science whatsoever. At least therapies and vaccines are hard! Making masks and transferring money are not hard. We could have these things but we chose not to — specifically we chose not to have the mechanisms, the factories, the systems to make these things. We chose not to *build*.

You don’t just see this smug complacency, this satisfaction with the status quo and the unwillingness to build, in the pandemic, or in healthcare generally. You see it throughout Western life, and specifically throughout American life.

You see it in housing and the physical footprint of our cities. We can’t build nearly enough housing in our cities with surging economic potential — which results in crazily skyrocketing housing prices in places like San Francisco, making it nearly impossible for regular people to move in and take the jobs of the future. We also can’t build the cities themselves anymore. When the producers of HBO’s “Westworld” wanted to portray the American city of the future, they didn’t film in Seattle or Los Angeles or Austin — they went to Singapore. We should have gleaming skyscrapers and spectacular living environments in all our best cities at levels way beyond what we have now; where are they?

You see it in education. We have top-end universities, yes, but with the capacity to teach only a microscopic percentage of the 4 million new 18 year olds in the U.S. each year, or the 120 million new 18 year olds in the world each year. Why not educate every 18 year old? Isn’t that the most important thing we can possibly do? Why not build a far larger number of universities, or scale the ones we have way up? The last major innovation in K-12 education was Montessori, which traces back to the 1960s; we’ve been doing education research that’s never reached practical deployment for 50 years since; why not build a lot more great K-12 schools using everything we now know? We know one-to-one tutoring can reliably increase education outcomes by two standard deviations (the Bloom two-sigma effect); we have the internet; why haven’t we built systems to match every young learner with an older tutor to dramatically improve student success?

You see it in manufacturing. Contrary to conventional wisdom, American manufacturing output is higher than ever, but why has so much manufacturing been offshored to places with cheaper manual labor? We know how to build highly automated factories. We know the enormous number of higher paying jobs we would create to design and build and operate those factories. We know — and we’re experiencing right now! — the strategic problem of relying on offshore manufacturing of key goods. Why aren’t we building Elon Musk’s “alien dreadnoughts” — giant, gleaming, state of the art factories producing every conceivable kind of product, at the highest possible quality and lowest possible cost — all throughout our country?

You see it in transportation. Where are the supersonic aircraft? Where are the millions of delivery drones? Where are the high speed trains, the soaring monorails, the hyperloops, and yes, the flying cars?

Is the problem money? That seems hard to believe when we have the money to wage endless wars in the Middle East and repeatedly bail out incumbent banks, airlines, and carmakers. The federal government just passed a $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package in two weeks! Is the problem capitalism? I’m with Nicholas Stern when he says that capitalism is how we take care of people we don’t know — all of these fields are highly lucrative already and should be prime stomping grounds for capitalist investment, good both for the investor and the customers who are served. Is the problem technical competence? Clearly not, or we wouldn’t have the homes and skyscrapers, schools and hospitals, cars and trains, computers and smartphones, that we already have.

The problem is desire. We need to *want* these things. The problem is inertia. We need to want these things more than we want to prevent these things. The problem is regulatory capture. We need to want new companies to build these things, even if incumbents don’t like it, even if only to force the incumbents to build these things. And the problem is will. We need to build these things.

And we need to separate the imperative to build these things from ideology and politics. Both sides need to contribute to building.

The right starts out in a more natural, albeit compromised, place. The right is generally pro production, but is too often corrupted by forces that hold back market-based competition and the building of things. The right must fight hard against crony capitalism, regulatory capture, ossified oligopolies, risk-inducing offshoring, and investor-friendly buybacks in lieu of customer-friendly (and, over a longer period of time, even more investor-friendly) innovation.

It’s time for full-throated, unapologetic, uncompromised political support from the right for aggressive investment in new products, in new industries, in new factories, in new science, in big leaps forward.

The left starts out with a stronger bias toward the public sector in many of these areas. To which I say, prove the superior model! Demonstrate that the public sector can build better hospitals, better schools, better transportation, better cities, better housing. Stop trying to protect the old, the entrenched, the irrelevant; commit the public sector fully to the future. Milton Friedman once said the great public sector mistake is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. Instead of taking that as an insult, take it as a challenge — build new things and show the results!

Show that new models of public sector healthcare can be inexpensive and effective — how about starting with the VA? When the next coronavirus comes along, blow us away! Even private universities like Harvard are lavished with public funding; why can’t 100,000 or 1 million students a year attend Harvard? Why shouldn’t regulators and taxpayers demand that Harvard build? Solve the climate crisis by building — energy experts say that all carbon-based electrical power generation on the planet could be replaced by a few thousand new zero-emission nuclear reactors, so let’s build those. Maybe we can start with 10 new reactors? Then 100? Then the rest?

In fact, I think building is how we reboot the American dream. The things we build in huge quantities, like computers and TVs, drop rapidly in price. The things we don’t, like housing, schools, and hospitals, skyrocket in price. What’s the American dream? The opportunity to have a home of your own, and a family you can provide for. We need to break the rapidly escalating price curves for housing, education, and healthcare, to make sure that every American can realize the dream, and the only way to do that is to build.

Building isn’t easy, or we’d already be doing all this. We need to demand more of our political leaders, of our CEOs, our entrepreneurs, our investors. We need to demand more of our culture, of our society. And we need to demand more from one another. We’re all necessary, and we can all contribute, to building.

Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, what are you building? What are you building directly, or helping other people to build, or teaching other people to build, or taking care of people who are building? If the work you’re doing isn’t either leading to something being built or taking care of people directly, we’ve failed you, and we need to get you into a position, an occupation, a career where you can contribute to building. There are always outstanding people in even the most broken systems — we need to get all the talent we can on the biggest problems we have, and on building the answers to those problems.

I expect this essay to be the target of criticism. Here’s a modest proposal to my critics. Instead of attacking my ideas of what to build, conceive your own! What do you think we should build? There’s an excellent chance I’ll agree with you.

Our nation and our civilization were built on production, on building. Our forefathers and foremothers built roads and trains, farms and factories, then the computer, the microchip, the smartphone, and uncounted thousands of other things that we now take for granted, that are all around us, that define our lives and provide for our well-being. There is only one way to honor their legacy and to create the future we want for our own children and grandchildren, and that’s to build.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers are nearing an agreement on more coronavirus aid after she refused to accept a pork-free ‘clean’ version of the legislation to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which ran out of money last week.

“We’re close,” Pelosi told ABC‘s “This Week,” adding “Again, we have common ground … I think we’re very close to agreement.”

JUST IN: Speaker Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos “we’re very close” to agreement to replenish small business fund, adding Democrats have an “urgency to do something for our hospitals, our teachers and firefighters.” The full interview Sunday on @ThisWeekABC. https://t.co/hBHyPtjAEp pic.twitter.com/MnTHLUzBbs

— ABC News (@ABC) April 18, 2020

The $349 billion PPP stopped accepting applications last week after a flood of small business owners affected by the coronavirus pandemic rushed to tap into the government assistance.

Pelosi said businesses will have their relief in a “timely fashion,” but also noted, “We know that we have an opportunity and an urgency to do something for our hospitals, our teachers, and firefighters, and the rest right now. And then we are preparing for our next bill.” –Politico

Pelosi, who objected to GOP demands for a clean refunding of the PPP, has drawn harsh rebuke for letting small businesses die on the vine so that Democrats can negotiate for their interests. Fifteen House Democrats publicly supported the GOP plan to immediately replenish the funds, while Pelosi played politics.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, meanwhile, told CNN‘s “State of the Union” that a deal could be struck as early as Sunday in comments echoed less than 10 minutes later by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“I’m very hopeful we could come to an agreement tonight or early tomorrow morning,” Sen. Chuck Schumer says about talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to funnel more money into the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/FxOZrcqall

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 19, 2020

We’re sure DC lobbyists are looking for a resolution on this soon so they can catch a few hours of sleep after a job well done.

“Fair treatment for all.”

“Together we are stronger.”

“Yes to unity.”

“Yes to solidarity.”

“What a wonderful world. Together.”

All rallying cries of the liberated minds of the global elite (actually these are all from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus) as they virtue-signal themselves to ‘victory’ over the COVID-19 pandemic.

What a Wonderful World. Together!

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 19, 2020

However, while they may talk a big game in bite-size chunks, one member of this globally-praised entity accidentally pulled back the curtain on how they really feel last night as Professor Walter Ricciardi (a member of the World Health Organization’s European Advisory Committee for Health Research and also on the USA’s National Board of Medical Examiners) tweeted his support of far-left activist (and movie-maker) Michael Moore’s call to violent action against President Trump.

Following President Trump’s tweet to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN”, Moore – apparently upset at the idea of liberating his home-state from the authoritarian lockdown that is currently killing Americans slowly and crushing the economy – tweeted the following ‘dog whistle’ for violence against a Trump-like mannequin…

November 3. Right around 8pm ET. Party’s at my place. All are welcome. https://t.co/58WBbKKLOD pic.twitter.com/qsyYfMzyVH

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) April 19, 2020

Humor? maybe… but just imagine if a ‘right’-leaning twitterer posted something similar with Nancy Pelosi’s head on top of the dummy?

Anyway. Shortly after Moore’s tweet, Ricciardi decided to retweet the threat, adding the word “beloved” to his response…

h/t Gateway Pundit

Not exactly hiding his true feelings for the man who has just pulled America’s funding for the China-sponsored organization that many claim bears a lot of responsibility for a delayed reaction (to put it mildly) to the pandemic’s outbreak.

Of course, once that response started gathering reactions – negatively – across social media, Ricciardi quickly deleted his tweet.

A ‘blue-check-mark’ seemingly endorsing violence against another human being? That seems like banning material for Twitter?

So we are sure it was just a misunderstanding… a slip of the thumb… or was he hacked by Russians?

A cluster of COVID-19 cases forced health officials in Illinois to shutter Hormel’s Rochelle Foods plant on Friday.  

Ogle County Health Department (OCHD) said the food processing plant would be closed for at least two weeks. On Friday (April 17), the facility was linked to 19 cases across Ogle County, three in Whiteside County, and two in Winnebago County, reported Daily Chronicle.

The facility employs more than 800 workers, many of whom have been sent home on paid leave. The facility will have 48 hours to comply with new health measures to mitigate the spread of the virus.

“My team has spent countless hours in collaboration with Rochelle Foods in an attempt to mitigate the virus spread,” OCHD Administrator Kyle Auman said.

OCHD made several attempts to assist the plant in testing workers, employee monitoring, and recommendations for sanitary protocols, but health officials said, “the efforts were unsuccessful” to stop the spread. 

“Since those efforts were unsuccessful, it is my duty to order a complete closure of the facility,” Auman said. 

Rochelle Mayor John Bearrows released a statement that said, “Although many essential businesses are open and operating, we will not tolerate them risking the health and safety of their employees or our community during this pandemic or any other time.” 

A statement released from Rochelle Foods said OCHD notified them that the plant had to be shut down due to a localized breakout at the facility. The closure, the company stated, was “voluntarily:”

“Rochelle Foods was issued a notice of closure from the local health department on April 17. We are working to further understand the closure order and are consulting with our legal counsel to understand next steps,” Rochelle Foods said. “We have decided to voluntarily close our facility to ensure a broader understanding of COVID-19 in the Rochelle community, Ogle county and the impact on our operations. Rochelle Foods team members will continue to be paid during the closure.”

As virus deaths surge across the country in the last several days, President Trump is attempting to reopen economies on a state-by-state basis on May 01. However, it appears that reopening America at this point could be met with failure and result in a second wave of the virus. 

Authored by Mike Whitney via The Unz Review,

Sometimes, the best thing to do, is to do nothing at all. Take Sweden, for example, where the government decided not to shut down the economy, but to take a more thoughtful and balanced approach. Sweden has kept its primary schools, restaurants, shops and gyms open for business even though fewer people are out in public or carrying on as they normally would.

At the same time, the government has kept the Swedish people well-informed so they understand the risks the virus poses to their health and the health of others. This is how the Swedes have minimized their chances of getting the infection while avoiding more extreme measures like shelter-in-place which is de facto house arrest.

What the Swedish experiment demonstrates, is that there’s a way to navigate these unprecedented public health challenges without recklessly imposing police state policies and without doing irreparable harm to the economy. And, yes, the results of this experiment are not yet known, but what we do know is that most nations cannot simply print-up trillions of dollars to counter the knock-on effects of bringing the economy to a screeching halt. These countries must dip into their reserves or take out loans from the IMF in order to recover from the lack of production and activity. That means they’re going to face years of slow growth and high unemployment to dig out from the mess their leaders created for them.

And that rule applies to the US too, even though the government has been recklessly printing money to pay the bills. The unforeseen cost to the US will come in the form of long-term unemployment triggered by millions of failed small and mid-sized businesses. That grim scenario is all but certain now. And just as the USG “disappeared” millions of workers from the unemployment rolls following the 2008 Financial Crisis– forcing them to find low-paying, part-time, no-benefits work in the “gig” economy– so too, millions of more working people will fall through the cracks and wind up homeless, jobless and destitute following this crisis. One $1,200 check from Uncle Sam and a few weeks of unemployment compensation is not going to not be enough to prevent the fundamental restructuring of the US labor force that will be impossible to avoid if the economy isn’t restarted pronto.

That’s why we should look to countries like Sweden that have taken a more measured approach that allow parts of the economy to continue to function during the epidemic, so other parts can gear-up quickly and return to full capacity with minimal disruption. This should not be a “liberal vs conservative” issue as it’s become in the United States. One should not oppose restarting the economy just because Trump is ‘for it’, but because millions of working people are facing an uncertain future in an economy which– most economists believe– is headed for a severe and protracted recession. Liberals should be looking for ways to avoid that dismal outcome instead of wasting all their time criticizing Trump. (Of course, now that the idiot Trump has appointed Ivanka, Jared, Kudlow and Wilbur Ross to lead his Council to Re-Open America” it will be impossible to extricate the issue from partisan politics.) This is a clip from an article by Donald Jeffries at Lew Rockwell:

“The shutdown of businesses now has been going on for more than a month. How many of the dwindling small businesses left in our casino economy have already closed down forever? How many mid-sized ones will ever be able to reopen? How many millions will be furloughed, laid off, fired- however they word it- because of this draconian reaction? How can an economy based on commerce exist without commerce?”

(“The Locked Down World”, Donald Jeffries, Lew Rockwell)

Indeed. This isn’t a question of putting profits before people. The economy IS our life. Try to make a living without an economy. Try to feed your family or pay the rent or buy a car or do anything without an economy. We need the economy. Working people need the economy, and we need to find a way to do two things at the same time: Keep the economy running and save as many lives as possible. The idea that we can just do one of these things and not the other, is not only blatantly false, it is destructive to our own best interests. We have to do both, there is no other way. Here’s more background on Sweden from an article at Haaretz:

“The truth is that we have a policy similar to that of other countries,” says Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, “Like everyone, we are trying to slow down the rate of infection … The differences derive from a different tradition and from a different culture that prevail in Sweden. We prefer voluntary measures, and there is a high level of trust here between the population and the authorities, so we are able to avoid coercive restrictions”…

It’s still too early to say whether Stockholm’s policy will turn out to be a success story or a blueprint for disaster. But, when the microbes settle, following the global crisis, Sweden may be able to constitute a kind of control group: Did other countries go too far in the restrictions they have been imposing on their populations? Was the economic catastrophe spawned globally by the crisis really unavoidable? Or will the Swedish case turn out to be an example of governmental complacency that cost human lives unnecessarily?”

(“Why Sweden Isn’t Forcing Its Citizens to Stay Home Due to the Coronaviru”, Haaretz)

Tegnell, is no long-haired, fist-waving radical, he’s Sweden’s chief epidemiologist and has worked for mainstream organizations like the WHO and the European Commission. Where he differs from so many of his peers is simply in his approach, which empowers ordinary people to use their own common sense regarding their health, their safety and the safety of others. It’s simple, if you develop symptoms, stay home. Tegnell believes that its easier to get people to do the right thing by trusting their judgement then by ordering them to do so.

That said, Sweden’s objectives are the same as every other country impacted by the pandemic. The emphasis is on “flattening the curve”, slowing the rate of infection, testing as many people as possible, and protecting the vulnerable and older populations. It’s just their methods are different. They’ve taken a more nuanced approach that relies on level-headed people conforming to the guidelines that help to minimize contagion until some better remedy is found. “Social distancing” is practiced in Sweden, but the population has not had their civil liberties suspended nor have they been put under house arrest until the threat has passed. Sweden has not compromised its core values in a frenzied attempt to stave off sickness or death. Can the U.S. say the same? Here’s more from an article at the Washington Times:

“As government leaders in the UK and the United States are grappling with how to revive dormant economies, Dr. Tegnell said the Swedish approach will allow the country to maintain social distancing measures in the long term without putting the economic system at risk. Dr. Tegnell said he believes certain regions in Sweden are already very close to … a state where so many in the population have built up resistance to the virus that it is no longer a pandemic threat…

“We do believe the main difference between our policies and many other countries’ policies is that we could easily keep these kinds of policies in place for months, maybe even years, without any real damage to society or our economy,” Dr. Tegnell said. Although the government has not issued a stay-at-home order, many Swedes have decided to quarantine and practice social distancing on their own volition, Dr. Tegnell said.”

(“Top Swedish official: Virus rates easing up despite loose rules”, The Washington Times)

The threat of pandemic is new to most countries, so it’s not entirely fair to criticize their response. But, at this point, reasonable people should be able agree that implementing sweeping policies that inflict incalculable damage to the economy and on people’s personal liberties is a gross overreaction that poses as big a threat as the pandemic itself. Leaders must be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. That’s all we should expect of them: Just restart the damn economy while minimizing the risks of infection as much as possible. Is that too much to ask? Here’s an excerpt from an article at MedicineNet:

“The financial ruin this pandemic has caused for many will almost certainly lead to increased suicide, mental illness, and physical health problems exacerbated by a loss of health insurance in countries without socialized medicine, according to the World Economic Forum. That’s partly why both Sweden and Singapore have tried to keep life in their countries as normal as possible for as long as possible during the response. It does not explain the drastically different death tolls between the two countries, however….

Anders Tengall, the country’s chief epidemiologist, is making a grim wager. The hypothesis is there will not be significantly more Swedes dead at the end of the pandemic than if the country had initiated stricter distancing protocols, but the looser approach will keep the number of cases from spiking when lockdowns are lifted.

Tengall’s and the rest of the Swedish government’s bet is this approach is more sustainable, and can help prevent some of those other bad health outcomes that accompany economic depression.” (“Sweden and Singapore: The COVID-19 ‘Soft’ Approach vs. Techno-Surveillance”, MedicineNet)

So, yes, the number of deaths per thousand in Sweden do not compare favorably to nearby Denmark, but the final results of the experiment might not be known for years. With a population of 5.8 million, Denmark’s death-toll is currently 336, while Sweden’s is 1,400 for a population of 10.2 million. (as of 4-17-20) So, as a practical matter, the Swedish method looks vastly inferior. (Interestingly, Sweden’s population is similar to NY City’s 8.4 million, but coronavirus deaths in NYC have now reached a horrific 12,822.)

But there’s more to this story than mere data-points or the latest grim statistics. Here’s a clip from the LA Times that helps to connect the dots:

“Tegnell… insists that Sweden’s approach still seems to make sense, though he also acknowledges that the world is in uncharted territory with the virus. He argues that while Sweden might have more infections in the short term, it will not face the risk of a huge infection spike that Denmark might face once its lockdown is lifted.

“I think both Norway and Denmark are now very concerned about how you stop this complete lockdown in a way so you don’t cause this wave to come immediately when you start loosening up,” he said. He said authorities know that the physical distancing Swedes are engaging in works, because officials have recorded a sudden end to the flu season and to a winter vomiting illness.” (“Sweden sticks to ‘low-scale’ lockdown despite rise in coronavirus deaths’”, LA Times)

The Swedish plan will continue to be criticized by public health experts who think that their draconian recommendations should be fully-implemented without the slightest deviation, but it could turn out that the Swedish model is not only vastly superior to the other courses of action but, ultimately, the only real option for countries that want to save lives but avoid a permanently-hobbled and severely-depressed economy.

Detroit Police have touted on social media that they issued hundreds of citations and broke up dozens of parties during the coronavirus lockdown, reported Detroit Free Press.

A new Facebook post via the Detroit Police Department details how thousands of folks across Wayne County, or mainly in the Detroit Urban Area, have neglected to follow Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home order.

The post reads: “Thank you Detroit for being the eyes and the ears of our community. Since April 4, Detroit Police Officers have checked over 10,631 locations, given 1,614 warnings, issued 736 citations, shutdown over 24 parties and closed 27 businesses to ensure compliance with the Governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order…”

The incident report data was released on Friday and dated back to April 4. The problem developing, as shown in the chart below, is that warmer weather trends are ahead for Detroit, which means more and more people will be outside, and make it near impossible for police officers to enforce public health orders.

“Social Distancing Scoreboard,” an app that tracks the GPS location of smartphones and grades geographical regions, such as a town, county, and or even a state, on how well residents in those areas are abiding by the government-enforced social distancing rules, grades Wayne County, the area where Detroit resides, with a “C,” noting that residents are doing an okay job but not the best at following social distancing rules.  

As of Saturday morning, 30,023 virus cases have been confirmed in Michigan, with at least 2,227 deaths. 

Detroit police also said they shutdown 27 businesses that were illegally operating during the lockdown.

On Friday, Whitmer said the stay-at-home order would be relaxed on May 1. It came one day after conservative groups surrounded the state’s Capitol building and demanded a reopening of the crashed economy.

“I gotta feed my family!” — #OperationGridlock video from https://t.co/JGanAgY24y pic.twitter.com/rGnRU7dRPi

— Memelord (@dailydigger19) April 15, 2020

Warmer weather trends across the country are expected through April, making it near impossible for the government to enforce stay-at-home orders. This means probabilities will increase for a second coronavirus wave. 

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

One year after a fire nearly destroyed the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the cause of the blaze remains a mystery.

On April 15, 2019, the 850 year old gothic building was engulfed in flames, sending its iconic spire crumbling to the ground.

Despite police initially asserting that an electrical short circuit was the probable cause of the fire, Europe Echaffaudage said that the electricity supply to the two lifts on the site “was perfectly within specifications and well maintained.”

12 months on and there is no official conclusion as to how the fire started.

Le Journal des Arts reports that the coronavirus lockdown and the fact that the remains of the original scaffolding that the fire brought down is still on site has delayed the investigation.

“Experts still haven’t been able to gain access to the area where the blaze is believed to have begun, and that area will not be accessible until the scaffolding comes down,” reports ArtNet.

As we previously highlighted, following the blaze, the French government ordered state-employed architects not to give interviews to the media about the Notre Dame fire.

As the video below documents, in the days after the fire, BuzzFeed ran a fake news hoax denying that Muslims had celebrated the fire, despite evidence of this being manifestly provable.

I posted a video from Facebook showing users with Islamic names reacting to the burning cathedral with thumbs up and smiley face emoticons.

BuzzFeed then claimed in an article, “the video in question does not show what people on Facebook were reacting to.”

This was a complete lie. The video clearly shows the Notre Dame Cathedral burning in the background.

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Americans are panic hoarding plant seeds as the coronavirus outbreak confines millions to their homes, crashes the economy, and disrupts food supply chains. This has resulted in people questioning their food security.

A Google search of “buy seeds” has rocketed to an all-time high across the US in March to early April, the same time as supermarket shelves went bare. 

We’ve done a pretty good job of documenting the evolution of panic hoarding over the last several months. Americans started buying 3M N95 masks in mid-January, then non-perishables in February, followed by toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and guns.  

Now apparently, plant seeds are the next big thing…

Seed companies who spoke with CBS News said they have stopped taking new orders after unprecedented demand. George Ball, chairman of Pennsylvania-based Burpee Seeds, said the recent increase in new orders is “just unbelievable.” The company will start accepting orders again on Wednesday after it stopped taking new ones for several days to catch up on the backlog.

Americans in quarantine are becoming increasingly concerned about their food security. What has shocked many is that food on supermarket shelves that existed one day, could be completely wiped out in minutes via panic hoarding. Some people are now trying to restore the comfort of food security by planting “Pandemic Gardens.”

“If I had to put my thumb on it, I would say people are worried about their food security right now,” said Emily Rose Haga, the executive director of the Seed Savers Exchange, an Iowa-based nonprofit devoted to heirloom seeds.

 “A lot of folks even in our region are putting orders into their grocery stores and having to wait a week to get their groceries. Our society has never experienced a disruption like this in our lifetime.”

One of the most significant trends besides a crashed economy and high unemployment is that tens of thousands of Americans, mainly of the working poor, who just lost their jobs, are ending up at food banks. These facilities have reported surging demand, as a hunger crisis unfolds.

Today’s economic, health, and social crisis has made people realize that relying on supermarkets for food is not a safe bet. Some are now reverting to the land for survival.

Seed Savers Exchange noticed a surge in seed demand started in mid-March, the same time lockdowns across the country went into effect. The nonprofit has also halted new orders to catch up on the backlog.

“We received twice the amount of orders we normally receive,” the company said, adding it has had to hire more staff to deal with rising seed demand.

With America at war with coronavirus, the “Victory Gardens” our ancestors planted in WWI & II have now morphed into Pandemic Gardens. The surge in seed demand suggests a new trend of the 2020s is developing, one where reliance on corporations and government for survival are coming to an end for some people, as rural communities and living off the land is the safest bet in times of crisis.

And maybe now is the time to plant a Pandemic Garden considering Morgan Stanley is predicting a second coronavirus wave could arrive in the US later this year. In essence, that would mean more runs on supermarkets would be seen, jeopardizing food security for many.