Stay Home and Read This! - The COVID-19 Reading Sampler (March 27, 2020)

We are offering our top 10 selections, probably daily, of the best articles and podcasts on COVID-19 and American policy responses.

Overall our reading leads us to think there ARE and SHOULD BE "libertarians in a pandemic," and that indeed non-libertarian policies are what make responses to the pandemic inadequate.

1) Federalist editor Madeline Osburn reports that the scientist whose model had been used to predict an unprecedented pandemic is now walking his predictions back.

2) New Scientist reports that the Imperial college scientist whose model had been used for prediction has drastically lowered his predictions.

3) Federalist contributor Mollie Hemingway reports on media using debunked models and statistics in COVID-19 reporting, for political reasons.

4) Johan Norberg reports from Sweden that the Swedes are not closing businesses or schools.

5) Javier Sanchez and Willliam Hongsong Wang report from Taiwan that Taiwan is also not closing schools and businesses.

6) George Mason University economist Alex Tabborak discusses how the CDC's and FDA's attempt to centrally plan and monopolize test production worsened the pandemic.

7)  Richard Epstein revises upward his earlier prediction that COVID-19 was little worse than annual flu seasons, but maintains that the standard predictions were still wrong.

8) Mercatus Center economist Veronique de Rugy reports on how the private sector saved the day.

9) France decides not to shut down businesses in minority immigrant neighborhoods, which would seem to raise all kinds of questions about equal treatment under the law.

10) Fifty five million public school students are now digital homeschooling.  Will they want to go back to government schools?

Ron Paul takes a shot at Gary Johnson?

People who viewed this on FOX tell me it was obvious that the interviewer deliberately interrupted Congressman Paul mid-sentence so it would seem like he was endorsing Jill Stein over Gary Johnson.

This is part of a pattern of media spin to attack Gary Johnson:  he didn't recognize "Aleppo" as a reference to the Syrian refugee crisis and civil war (which obviously most people refer to as "Syria," since millions then had to google "Aleppo" after the story was spun); he couldn't recall Vincente Fox's name (though he knew the only foreign leader he admired was the President of Mexico who has spoken around the world condemning the drug war) when asked about foreign leaders he admired - and this was spun as not knowing the names of ANY foreign leaders.  Likewise when William Weld said Hillary had paper-qualifications or Trump had not violated any tax laws, the press quoted these sound bites out of context as if they were endorsements.


Ron Paul: Jill Stein is more libertarian than Gary Johnson: Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein is preferable to Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson on at least some issues, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul said Monday. I said if the independents, who don't know what to do and who should they pick, I say if you tend to lean towards progressivism and liberalism and you're interested in expressing yourself, you can vote for the Green Party, he said on MSNBC. I think she's probably best on foreign policy at the moment. But on Gary Johnson, he does not come across with a crisp libertarian message. Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2584781 Paul, who was the libertarian nominee for president in 1988, stressed that he hasn't endorsed anyone yet. I have not told any supporters who are interested for whom they should vote, he said.