Download This PaperThere Is Nothing to Fear – But the Fear of CoronaVirus, Itself
9 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2020
Date Written: April 5, 2020
Abstract
Notwithstanding two decades of ostensible pandemic preparedness efforts, Governments around the world are scrambling to respond to Co-Vid 19. The patchwork and band-aid measures, aggressive initiatives later abandoned for lack of available resources, and draconian invasions of personal liberties – which are liable to cause more harm than the disease itself is evidence of ignorance and politicizing a public health crisis. To sustain these short-sided efforts, opaque mathematical modelling prognostications are offered. In the US, the methodology for “official” numbers is not being produced; in Israel, politicians spout fear-mongering numbers without any ostensible basis at all, only to reconstruct the death estimates downward by a factor of ten -once political objectives are met. This essay provides some cautionary evidence of the harmful results when politicians and bureaucrats (even those who are schooled in public health) are vested with decision-making.
Keywords: fear-mongering, corona, corona-virus, politics, politicizing, health care response, covid19, pandemic preparedness
JEL Classification: B40, C44, C53, C54, C65,C 63,C 83, I1, I12, I14, I18, O21, O33, O38, K32, K43
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation