COVID-19
Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began it became clear that the virus was nowhere near as dangerous or deadly as government officials, mainstream journalists, and the public health establishment claimed.
Unfortunately, the government’s response to the disease turned into a major overreach that caused profound damage to citizens of every age, race, religion, and background. Since the start of the pandemic, the Independent Institute has explored the effects of the government’s response—both the nature of the overreach and the ways in which the media, corporations, the scientific community, and unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats helped make such a shocking and unconstitutional breach of power possible.
For those who lived through it, it is impossible to forget all the misinformation and hysterical screeds knowingly peddled by those in power. The danger of the virus was exaggerated to the point of deceit. Draconian lockdowns and mask mandates were praised by pundits and politicians and backed by law enforcement, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of their ineffectiveness at stopping the virus. Blatantly unconstitutional vaccine mandates forced working Americans to choose between their livelihood and bodily autonomy. The Independent Institute is committed to ensuring that no such abuse of power ever happens again.
Unfortunately, the government’s response to the disease turned into a major overreach that caused profound damage to citizens of every age, race, religion, and background. Since the start of the pandemic, the Independent Institute has explored the effects of the government’s response—both the nature of the overreach and the ways in which the media, corporations, the scientific community, and unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats helped make such a shocking and unconstitutional breach of power possible.
For those who lived through it, it is impossible to forget all the misinformation and hysterical screeds knowingly peddled by those in power. The danger of the virus was exaggerated to the point of deceit. Draconian lockdowns and mask mandates were praised by pundits and politicians and backed by law enforcement, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of their ineffectiveness at stopping the virus. Blatantly unconstitutional vaccine mandates forced working Americans to choose between their livelihood and bodily autonomy. The Independent Institute is committed to ensuring that no such abuse of power ever happens again.
LATEST Articles
The Epistle of Paul to the Americans: Exposing White Coat Supremacy
We had entered a frightening new era of medicine, where the training and expertise of one’s...
Neo-Marxism and the End of Language
Language is changing in America; indeed, probably throughout the West. And the changes are not good.
The...
Markets Can Help Fix the Blood Shortage
Due to restrictions enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, plasma collections dropped about 20% by September 2021.
The Federal Reserve at War
Here is where lessons from emergency actions taken during the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic are helpful.
Today’s Public Health Emergency: Restoring Trust with Seven Steps
The truth cannot be denied—the Birx-Fauci lockdowns failed to stop the death and the spread of infection and inflicted tremendous harms.
Decongestant Drug Doesn’t Work? Neither Does the FDA
Several COVID-19 “variants of concern” emerging recently also make it terrible timing to remove any medicines that help treat flulike symptoms.
Gov. Newsom Goes to China
In April, 2020, Gov. Newsom struck a $1 billion deal for masks with Chinese company Build Your Dreams (BYD), not known for protective equipment.
Another Black Monday May Be Around the Corner
Early in the pandemic, the volume of U.S. dollars in circulation soared. Then, in March 2022, the Fed changed course.
Newsom Admits California’s Medical Professionals Were Right
It’s fair to say that the governor is not a big fan of the First Amendment.
San Francisco Values? Nancy Pelosi Explains It All for You.
In San Francisco values, rules that apply to the working class don’t apply to the ruling class.
Misinformation Is a Word We Use to Shut You Up
Censors have often invoked the opinions of certain organizations, such as CDC or WHO.
Newsom’s COVID Coverup
It was Newsom, not the mayor of Fresno or the supervisors of Humboldt County, who in effect placed Californians under house arrest.
Virus Variant: Perpetuating White Coat Supremacy in America
Dr. Fauci’s claim that the Covid virus arose naturally in the wild is a matter of speculation, not science.
California’s China Syndrome Exposed
The CDC’s vaunted Epidemic Intelligence Service failed to stop COVID from arriving stateside and did nothing to prevent or expose the covert Chinese lab in Reedley.
Fauci-Friendly Jeanne Marrazzo Named New Director of NIAID
She recommended the CDC website for both the public and health professionals. The Washington Post, in her opinion, was another “fantastic source.”
California Policymakers Stifle Those Who Disagree with State’s Education Policies
This is in response to a Stanford faculty member's opinion that the state did not provide sufficient educational leadership during the pandemic.
Biden’s Victory Lap Is Good Politics. Cheering Is Bad Economics
Real average hourly earnings have declined since March 2020, when the pandemic closures began.
The Fallacy of Climate Change and Macroeconomic Modeling
Understanding the macro effects of specific COVID-19-related public policies is active at several levels—but they were not (and by definition could not be) prophesied.
Who Are the Real Authoritarians?
Trump supporters are more suspicious of Anthony Fauci and the CDC, more opposed to lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and mask mandates during the Covid pandemic.
Sanders’ Medicare-for-All Would Destroy America’s Health Care
As with the harms from government lockdowns during COVID, it’s the poor and working class who will be stuck with single-payer health care.
3 Economic Truths Americans Can Learn from France’s Pension Flap
France has had a debt problem for years; even before the Covid-related spending spikes of 2020 and 2021
Biden Administration Is ‘Irreparably Harmed’ by Free Speech Injunction
The plaintiffs include epidemiologists Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which opposed draconian COVID lockdowns.
How AIER Helped to Hobble Fauci’s ‘Ministry of Truth’
Judge Doughty's ruling is a veritable declaration of independence from over two years of Covid censorship.
Fauci Family Values
Children are low risk for COVID-19 but Dr. Fauci wanted to vaccinate them, starting in the first grade.
President Biden’s Inflation Malarkey
President Biden misses the obvious cause: massive monetary stimulus by the Fed during the COVID years.
Liberate the Doctors: Four Principles
Until the Covid pandemic, for example, consultations by phone, email, Zoom etc., were not even on the list of services Medicare paid for—except in rare circumstances.
Stop Ignoring Facts and Fix Health Care for Minorities and the Poor
The SARS2 COVID pandemic re-demonstrated a long-known fact—socioeconomic differences correlate to health outcomes.
On A Quest to Impose Moral Authority, Gavin Newsom Loses His Way
Was it morally right for Newsom to keep children out of schools longer than nearly all other US states after the height of the COVID pandemic?
California Keeps Shooting Itself in the Foot on Affordable Rental Housing
California’s COVID-19 laws were notoriously among the strictest in the nation.
How Not to Become a Sociopath: The ‘Rest of America’ and the Role of Joy
We—the targeted—must reckon with the traumatizing fact that we were on the receiving end of cruelty which the perpetrators seemed really to enjoy.
America is Drunk on Credit—and Polarized Politics Complicate the Fed’s Unenviable Challenge of Ending Easy Money
American consumers, who had been forced by the Covid lockdown to remember what it was like to save money, decided that they were invulnerable once again
The Impending Thermidor Reaction in Jacobin America
We are swept up in similarly scary revolutionary times, after the perfect storm of the 2020 rioting, the COVID destructive lockdowns, and more.
The Crime of “Talking to Tucker Carlson”
Maternal deaths are up 40 per cent now, due to compromises of women’s fertility post-mRNA injection.
California Defaults on $18.5 Billion Debt, Leaving State Businesses Holding the Bag
The state received $27 billion in federal COVID aid it could have used to repay the debt.
Professors Feel the Impact of Higher Education’s Collapse
The COVID-19 crisis led to massive temporary inflows of federal funding, probably saving some schools from closing.
Musk Calls Out NPR as Government Mouthpiece
Dr. Anthony Fauci would seem to merit an investigation by the PBS Frontline series.
W.H.O. Do You Trust?
The WHO does not deserve public trust, yet Americans are about to be newly bound by its decrees.
How They Convinced Trump to Lock Down
Trump did not fully change his mind until August, when Scott Atlas revealed the whole con to him.
The Fed’s Policies Haunt Financial Markets
Normalization after the pandemic, however, might have fundamentally changed the landscape for lenders even as it confounded the Fed’s operating model.
What Happened to Stanford?
Neither Dr. Scott Atlas nor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya received apologies from Stanford administrators, faculty, or students who attacked them.
The Death of Culture: How Lies Killed Books
We are not entirely free again in the US, but we regained many of our freedoms.
America’s COVID Response Was Based on Lies
We must acknowledge the abject failure of the Birx-Fauci policies.
Is Biden’s Pick Julie Su Suited to be U.S. Labor Secretary?
Californians familiar with Su’s record could be forgiven for believing she is poorly suited to be the federal labor secretary.
They Mean to Be Masters: A Review of Trust Us
Overlooked in current debates about the COVID pandemic response is the fact that the people in charge were a big part of the problem.
Freedom Took a Hit During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Will It Recover?
The Cato Institute recently released its 2022 Human Freedom Index. The news is not good, revealing a broad decline in freedom worldwide in 2020.
The Fed’s Monetary Whiplash
Thanks to the Federal Reserve's monetary mismanagement, Americans are suffering from economic whiplash. Americans enjoyed a...
The Goose that Stopped Laying Golden Eggs
We are just starting to see another negative consequence of the Fed’s hasty response to the Covid crisis.
The States that Are Falling Behind in Economic Freedom
Economic freedom had generally increased slightly in recent years until the COVID-19 pandemic and particularly government policy reactions to it reversed this trend.
What the Populists in Congress Get Right and Get Wrong
Investigating the origins of COVID might best be principally left to qualified scientists.
Debt Ceiling Kabuki: Republicans Will Cave and U.S. Government Finances Will Get Even Worse
The need to borrow does not stem from the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine.
It’s Time to Put a Brake on the Debt-Ceiling Charade
Since the onset of Covid-19, the ratio of debt to GDP has increased to 20.9 percent but is projected to fall over the next decade.
‘Belief in Freedom’ Is Bad for You
In their quest to apply science, the authors might have cited reasons why some people hesitate to take a COVID vaccine shot.
Sins Against Children
All honest leaders, all individuals with integrity, should acknowledge that people were directly damaged and even died from the censorship of truth.
When Will Academia Account for Its Covid Failures?
Public apologies from the failed expert class would partly restore trust and help prevent future abuses, but ultimately admission of error requires integrity.
10 Steps to Save America
Trillion-dollar COVID subsidies have accelerated the idea that Americans need not work full-time to maintain a living.
The Most Selfish Generation
The pandemic demonstrated the power of adults in teachers unions to put their personal preferences above the educational needs of the children under their tutelage.
My Day at Yale
Basically, Yale is a massive sponge for vaccine money. Department after department.
Twitter Files Confirm Censorship of the Great Barrington Declaration
Still unfolding in this investigation is the role of government officials in pressuring Twitter to engage in censorship over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Who’s to Blame for the High Cost of Living?
The buildup of household income through government transfers during the pandemic subsequently fueled spending.
If You Really Wanted to Destroy the United States, Then . . .
It would be hard to imagine any planned agenda to destroy America that would have been...
Post-Faucist America
The new NIAID boss should be under a five-year contract, renewable only once, subject to review, and fireable by the president.
The COVID/Crypto Connection: The Grim Saga of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried
Masking became a symbol of being a good person, same as vaccinating, veganism, and flying into fits at the drop of a hat over climate change.
End the COVID National Emergency Now
There is a touch of Caesarism in the ongoing COVID national emergency.
Vote Like a Woman
Who was disproportionately harmed by lockdowns? Masking? Forced mRNA injections?
Brazilians Try to Decide Which Is the Lesser Evil
Brazil's October 30 runoff between President Jair Bolsonaro and former president Lula da Silva will be...
A Guide to Avoiding the IMF–China Debt Trap
During the pandemic, the G20 introduced programs designed to mitigate the debt burdens of lower-income countries.
The Tentacles of the Social Media Octopus
We now know that Facebook, to take one example, censors content in a manner that the FBI or Pfizer—or other agencies and corporations—directs.
California Tries to Delay Release Of K–12 School Test Scores Until After Election
While the magnitude of this educational deficiency is likely the result of remote learning during COVID, the deficiency itself has been around for decades.
The Not-So-Invisible Hand: Central Banks
Politicians may debate whether big-government socialism or free-market capitalism leads to better economic outcomes. Their constituents...
The PayPal Fiasco Was No Accident
PayPal on Oct. 8 sent out an update to its terms of use, or acceptable use...
Pandemics and Liberty: An Introduction
It’s unclear what measures and government powers granted during the pandemic will persist after COVID.
Gov. Newsom Is Right to Oppose Proposition 30, A Destructive Tax Increase
Hiking the top rate by another 1.75 percentage points would do nothing to reverse the population exodus that has plagued California during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Is Latin America Beyond Hope?
In 2020, the region’s economy shrank at twice the world rate; in 2021, not a single country had returned to its pre-pandemic output level.
Next PM Must Guarantee Britain Never Locks Down Again
We will long remember the horrors of Covid-19 restrictions.
Global Economic Freedom Plunged During the Coronavirus Panic
The novel coronavirus brought with it equally novel regulatory restrictions on economic freedom.
Inflation Will Hit Universities Hard
Many schools are in precarious financial condition despite huge federal bailouts related to the Covid pandemic.
A Midterm Election Strategy for the GOP: Focus on Seniors
A lot of seniors lost their jobs because of COVID-19, and many started taking Social Security.
Should the U.S. Overtly Pledge to Defend Taiwan?
Draconian interventions recently have been demonstrated by Xi’s lock down of major Chinese cities because of COVID.
Why We Lost Trust in the Expert Class
Experts absurdly claimed that denying tens of thousands the right to break quarantines to protest in the street was a greater health threat than COVID-19.
One of Our Few Great College Presidents Retires
Daniels realized the serious negative effects that overreliance on remote learning was having during the Covid pandemic, returning Purdue to in-person instruction before many other schools.
75% of PPP Wasted
2020’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) continues to be an $800 billion example of waste and fraud...
Biden and the Destruction of Wisdom
Biden allowed what will soon be 3 million illegal aliens during a pandemic to enter unaudited, untested, unvaccinated.
Gavin Newsom’s Weird Idea of ‘Freedom’
Gov. Newsom violated his own COVID mandates by dining at the upscale French Laundry restaurant and hanging out unmasked with Magic Johnson.
The Disappearing American?
During the nearly two-year-long COVID shutdown and economic downturn, firms cut costs by laying off millions of employees.
Biden and Oil: Destroy America in Order to Save It
The shelter-in-place mandates bridled the middle class and slowed the economy—and thus gave us desirable reduced carbon emissions.
What Congress Can Do to Lower the Cost of Inflation
Inflation is the highest it's been in 40 years. There are many culprits--COVID-19, a 40 percent...
The World Is Facing Its Day of Inflationary Reckoning
The last two years saw a $6 trillion COVID-19-related budget deficit that took federal expenditures to the equivalent of 30.5 percent of GDP.
What Can Healthcare Prices Teach About Inflationary Woes?
Even in 2020, when healthcare access was strongly curtailed because of COVID-19, medical inflation measured 4.11 percent.
Fauci and the Highest Stage of White Coat Supremacy
“Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part...
The Subordinate Citizen
I recently led a group of about 100 citizens to tour Israel for nearly two weeks....
The CDC’s New Pox Americana
With both COVID and monkeypox, more seems to be going on than junk science.
Congress Must End the Federal Mask Mandate Once and for All
When the mask mandate was overturned, every domestic airline lifted its mask requirement, often to the applause of passengers.
The Sovietization of American Life
Entire professions have now nearly been lost to radical progressive ideology.
The FDA Could Easily Solve the Baby Formula Shortage by Allowing More Imports from Europe
All of the COVID-19 vaccines and most of the treatments authorized have now received full FDA...
The Green Side of White Coat Supremacy
NIH director Francis Collins who also lied about funding gain-of-function research, deployed Fauci for a “quick decisive takedown” of the scientists of the Great Barrington Declaration
California Rejects Four-Day Workweek, but Supporters Haven’t Given Up
The bill “was prompted in part by the exodus of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.” But workers fled to lower-tax, less-restrictive states like Texas and Florida.
Whatever Happened to the $15 Minimum Wage?
Flush with cash from pandemic-induced government benefits and facing new buying opportunities, consumers are ready to spend.
The CDC and Unmasking White Coat Supremacy
US district judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has ruled that the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC)...
Vaccines and Operation Warp Speed
Over two years after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, it seems the...
Are EUAs Deregulation or Regulatory Capture?
Nearly two years after Covid-19 first reached the US, Dr. Anthony Fauci indicated what many medical...
There Is No Balm in Gilead
Remdesivir shows “no clinical efficiency” against COVID, but is much more expensive than either hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin, treatments that Fauci opposes.
U.S. Secret Service Open for Business
Thousands of “migrants” stream in from all over the world, with none of the COVID restrictions legitimate Americans must endure.
The Debasement of Our Professional and Political Classes
Do we remember the 27 Lancet “scientists” who signed the now infamous letter reassuring us the Wuhan lab played no role in the origins in COVID?
The Nihilism of the Left
State governors such as Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, and Andrew Cuomo did not let the pandemic crisis go to waste.
Where’s the Growth? Biden Budget Brings Back Obama’s Secular Stagnation
This year’s deficit comes down as pandemic emergency payments presumably come to an end.
The Sheer Madness of Today’s Left
Who wins this left-wing agenda war—the Faucites who want permanent COVID-19 emergency powers?
From Depressionist to Stalinist
Vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions act as a check on travel under white coat supremacist Anthony Fauci.
The Defense Production Act Won’t Bring Us Supply-Chain Security
Title III of that 1950 law was dusted off by President Trump to jumpstart the production of ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
The Real ‘Reset’ Is Coming
In the middle of the COVID global pandemic, Klaus Schwab and global elites announced a “Great Reset.”
The Public-Health Hazards Posed by Public-Health Paternalists
How much of the overreaction to COVID-19 is explained by the rise of public-health paternalism? I suspect an enormous amount.
Biden’s Handlers Are Preparing to Eject Him (and Kamala)
The people who put Joe Biden in power do not care about inflation, rising gas and food prices, or COVID lockdowns.
Behind the Barr
Barr shows no interest in Fauci’s possible conflicts of interest with drug companies.
The Fed Needs to Put Its Eye on the Money Supply
During the pandemic, the Fed made a colossal error by ignoring the growth rate in the money supply and creating a massive amount of excess money.
Should I Vaccinate My Child Against Covid?
The Covid vaccine has been widely used for children without solid information about its efficacy on hospitalizations and deaths.
Housing First Isn’t Working to Solve Homelessness. We Need a Holistic Model
In 2020, only three people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco died from COVID-19, but 712 San Franciscans died from overdoses.
The Biden Inflation Octopus
Biden ignored the natural inflationary buying spree of consumers who were released from being locked down for nearly two years unable to spend.
What Is the Great Reset?
Studies have shown that lockdowns did nothing to mitigate the spread of covid-19.
Department of Homicide Security?
For the FBI and DHS, the real terrorists are those who resist draconian COVID-19 mandates, and remain less than worshipful of Joe Biden.
Vaccine Cronyism
The financial and approval arrangements between the government and the vaccine developers largely remained unopen to the public.
The Gathering Storm in the West
More and more North Americans are perplexed why anyone would wish to follow such unimpressive mental...
The Fall of Canada, the Danger in the U.S.
This situation—that the United States is operating under emergency powers—is the biggest underreported story of the century to date.
FDA Continues to Meddle With Covid-19 Treatments
Despite a clear need to find treatments quickly to combat rising cases and help patients avoid hospitalization, the FDA is curtailing such efforts.
Joe Biden, Alchemist?
Biden tore the country apart by demonizing the unvaccinated as yokel Trump supporters, all but deserving whatever they got from COVID.
Time to End the Covid Emergency
There is no longer any justification for the federal government and states to maintain their declarations of emergency.
Why Ideology Is the Ancient Enemy of Civilization
One of the reasons the COVID-19 lockdown and mask policies lost public confidence was their utter corruption by ideology.
True North Rises
Under Trudeau fils, COVID mandates function as a kind of martial law.
Vaccine Vexations: This Isn’t the First Time Fauci Has Pushed Questionable Treatments
Dr. Fauci has a record of prioritizing procedures, vaccines and drugs protected by patents and profitable for drug companies.
The Drugfather
Fauci’s 2021 salary, and what he earned in royalties, had not been made public. As many...
Our Elite is No Elite at All
There are no finer degreed-elites in the world than our medical professionals such as Anthony Fauci, Francis Collins, and Peter Daszak.
Regarding the Defense Medical Epidemiological Database Data Dump
These are dangerous times, and we are in a 21st century global information war. Cannon balls...
Republican Priority: Make Trump Tax Cuts Permanent
House Republicans are crafting a modernized version of Newt Gingrich's famous 1994 Contract With America. It's...
A Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID-19 Mortality
Abstract
This systematic review and meta-analysis are designed to determine whether there is empirical evidence to...
Is It Time for Intellectuals to Talk about God?
I recently spoke at a gathering for medical freedom advocates in a little community center in...
Joe Biden and the Uses of Nihilism
Pompous and insufferably sanctimonious bureaucrats sent out flurries of false knowledge, as if they were religious edicts, with implied medieval punishments for the apostates.
Australia Makes Novak Djokovic the Poster Boy of COVID-19 Politics
Aussie bureaucrats decided to ignore their own COVID rules—that is, the rule of law—though Djokovic was in full compliance.
New Covid Variant—Same Government Blunders
Sadly, governmental misallocation and mismanagement of vital Covid-19 resources far predate Omicron.
The High Cost of Disparaging Natural Immunity to Covid
Public-health officials ruined many lives by insisting that workers with natural immunity to Covid-19 be fired...
Who’s Afraid of Naomi Wolf?
“Where were all the responsible feminist health activists,” Wolf wonders, “in the face of this global,...
Integrity. Dignity. Community.
We should not have politicized the public health response to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.
Wokeism Is a Cruel and Dangerous Cult
Thousands who live near the Mexican border see their homes and farms overrun with drug traffickers—and...
An Economic Evaluation of Covid Lockdowns
Public-health officials should seek to reduce the total harm caused by both infection and heavy-handed attempts to prevent it.
Is America Heading for a Systems Collapse?
In modern times, as in ancient Rome, several nations have suffered a 'systems collapse.' The term...
Conspiracies as Realities, Realities as Conspiracies
A once esteemed Fauci has been reduced to a cranky apparatchik.
OSHA Vaccine Mandate Stayed at the Supreme Court
In National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Department of Labor, a majority of the Supreme Court...
Just Say No to Biden and Fauci’s Universal Vaccination Nation
A particularly lethal vaccine-resistant mutation in a universally vaccinated world may well wipe out the human race.
A Deceptive Covid Study, Unmasked
Scientific communication should limit itself to the communication of science, rather than to the manipulation of human behavior.
Gavin Newsom’s 2022 Vision
In the style of Leona Helmsley, Newsom’s COVID restrictions were only for the “little people.”
Politicizing COVID-19 From the Start
A skeptic might suggest terror over the impending midterms finally made the Left face reality.
Price Controls and Government Spending Won’t Fix Inflation
It’s not hard to see how the United States got into this inflationary situation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Central Planning is Bad for the Economy and for Science
In the Great Barrington Declaration, distinguished medical scientists from Oxford, Harvard, and Stanford universities seek an...
What Makes Riots, Conspiracies, Cabals, and Insurrections ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’?
Was Biden not also guilty of an “abuse of power” and “obstructing Congress,” as he allowed...
Fauci Foreshadowed on Film
Before 2020, many Americans knew little or nothing about Dr. Anthony Fauci, a government bureaucrat since...
Packers’ Quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Science and Freedom of Choice
“If science can’t be questioned, it’s not science anymore. It’s propaganda, and that’s the truth.” That...
The Collins and Fauci Attack on Traditional Public Health
This failure to understand that lockdowns couldn’t protect the vulnerable led to the tragically high death counts from COVID.
The Truths We Dared Not Speak in 2021
Americans who claimed moral superiority for their masks and three shots—and still got COVID—cannot decide whether...
Sowing Winds and Reaping Whirlwinds
Joe Biden, first as a candidate and then in the White House, from the outset saw...
Homeless and Clueless in Oakland and Elsewhere in America
Homelessness in Oakland increased 86% from 2015 to 2019, the last year the counts were done, due to COVID-19, and it’s likely even higher now.
America Needs a Rebirth of Science
A healthy and flourishing republic requires a social and political climate that respects true scientific inquiry...
Why Would Hispanics Drop the Left?
As a smug candidate, Joe Biden personalized COVID-19 as the sole responsibility of whoever is the current president in power.
The Fickle ‘Science’ of Lockdowns
Even at the outset of Covid-19, the unwisdom of lockdowns guided mainstream epidemiology.
Pillage People and the Pandemic
During the ravages of the pandemic, when many workers lost their jobs, politicians did not seek to provide relief by lowering or suspending sales taxes.
Why Is the Left Worried Suddenly About the End of Democracy?
They are not worried about 2 million foreign nationals crashing the border in a single year, without vaccinations during a pandemic.
Cracked Icons
Our media-deified, progressive icons are finally being exposed as the deceivers they always were.
Woke Got What It Wanted—and Then What?
Biden would soberly vaccinate us all, claiming its efficacy as his own. He would predict victory over the virus by the Fourth of July.
From Galveston to Wuhan
'Where is coronavirus research conducted? What level of biocontainment? How many different laboratories actually handle live...
The Omicron Variant Is Another Excuse for Government Meddling
These latest policies are about extending the power of politicians and health bureaucrats to make arbitrary dictates into our lives and infringe our freedoms.
Biden Points to President Fauci
On December 2 at the National Institutes of Health Joe Biden told reporters “I’ve seen more...
How the States Can Reform Health Care
Deregulation in most places is tied to Covid—when the virus goes away, telehealth freedom will also go away.
President Fauci Rules
Fauci is the person most responsible for the lockdowns that wrecked the surging Trump economy and inflicted untold suffering on millions of people.
Losing Confidence in the Pillars of Our Civilization
To even suggest that the Wuhan Institute of Virology may have played a role in the birth and spread of the COVID-19 earned media derision.
Biden, not “Big Oil”, is to Blame for Energy Price Spikes
President Biden apparently wants Americans to believe that the major producers and distributors of fossil fuel...
’Tis the Season to Be Fearful?
His attendance at the massive wedding, and his unmasked caper at the upscale French Laundry last year hardly motivate Californians to take the governor seriously.
The Federal Reserve Needs to Remove Its Blinkers
Mr. Powell’s mistake now is to ignore the changed circumstances stemming not only from the pandemic but also the Biden administration’s tax and regulatory changes.
Why The Left Always Projects
Under the cloak of the COVID-19 lockdown, 102 million ballots were not cast on Election Day—over twice the 2016 absentee and early-voting numbers.
California Covid Contradictions
As Katy Grimes of the California Globe notes, some 20 months after Gov. Gavin Newsom locked...
The FDA is Back and Coming after Smart Socks
Under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization statement, private laboratories were permitted to develop and administer Covid-19 tests without the agency’s permission.
History Will Grind Out the Truth
Many federal health experts increasingly believe the virus was man-made.
Gavin Newsom Plays Hide and Seek
If stricken with GBS or some other adverse reaction to the booster, that would weaken the case for the draconian vaccine mandates Newsom supports.
Trump Nearing the Crossroads
On Biden’s watch, more have died each day on average from the disease than during Trump’s tenure from the start of the pandemic.
Gain of Function Controversy Demands Greater Scrutiny for Government-Funded Science
We must reevaluate government involvement in funding scientific research.
Who Eventually Won the Cold War?
During the COVID-19 pandemic that China likely birthed—even if accidentally—and helped to spread, the Chinese hierarchy replied to any criticism with accusations of “racism!”
The Ignoble Lie
Fauci lied about his own role in routing U.S. aid money to subsidize gain-of-function viral research at the Wuhan virology lab—the likely birthplace of COVID-19.
The Monetary Bathtub Is Overflowing
Persistent, not transitory, inflation will be with us for the next two to three years.
How Governments Botched COVID-19 Testing, Reinforcing Destructive Lockdowns and Massive “Relief” Spending
The most glaring governmental failure during the COVID-19 experience in the United States has been the...
Why Americans Are Not Anxious to Get Back to Work
Fear of Covid may be one problem. But federal policies that punish work and reward nonwork are likely to be more important—certainly in the long run.
Down with White Coat Supremacy!
Dr. Fauci claims that to criticize him is to criticize science itself. If embattled Americans called that megalomania it would be hard to blame them.
The Left Got What It Wanted—So Now What?
Americans still cannot even imagine that their government might have helped subsidize the plague germ that has wrought such havoc upon them.
What the FDA and NIH Have to Say About the Vaccine
Fact-checkers screening for “misinformation,” please note: everything that follows are direct quotes from the FDA Authorization...
Science Closes in on Covid’s Origins
The odds enormously favor a lab leak, far more significantly than the 99% confidence usually required for a revolutionary scientific discovery.
Lessons from Employer Vaccination Mandates
Issues surrounding employer vaccine mandates should cause us to reexamine how we live and work.
Our Woke National Icons
Our pandemic czar, Anthony Fauci, early on in the COVID-19 crisis praised the efforts of China to work with the world in containing the virus.
Wuhan COVID Patients Showed Genetically Modified Henipah Virus
“Samples from early Wuhan COVID-19 patients show the presence of genetically modified Henipah virus,” reports Omid...
To Mask, Or Not? A State of Resistance
The state of resistance, in this case, is Florida. Many readers will be aware that Florida...
It’s Time to End the COVID Mandates
As everyone is aware, governments have been mandating restrictions on people’s behavior in response to the...
Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Will Save Lives Now and in the Future
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed millions of people and imposed enormous economic costs on the world....
The Covid-19 Ratchet Effect is Becoming Clearer, and More Concerning
On June 24, Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky extended the national eviction moratorium...
Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Tops $400 Billion
In early 2020, state governments across the country reacted to the arrival of the coronavirus epidemic...
More U.S. Intelligence Failure – and a Possible COVID Coverup
On May 23, Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters he was “not convinced” that COVID-19 developed naturally....
The Biden Budget: Pandemic Spending That Never Ends
President Biden released his first budget proposal on Friday, May 28, 2021. Just ahead of the...
Inflation Facts
Widely reported in the financial news, inflation skyrocketed in March–the Consumer Price Index was up 0.8%...
Supreme Court Grants Injunction on California COVID Restrictions
On Friday, the Supreme Court in Tandon v. Newsom (2021), granted a request for injunctive relief...
Vaccine Passports: Why? How?
There’s only one reason to require COVID vaccine passports: to coerce people into getting the vaccine....
AstraZeneca Vaccine Controversy Provides Another Example of Overly Cautious Government Reactions
After a sluggish and error-prone beginning to a country-wide effort to vaccinate Americans against Covid-19, it...
Are We Witnessing the Beginning of the Covid-19 Ratchet Effect?
Nearly 13 months after the first confirmed Covid-19 infection in the US, President Biden held a...
How the Loss of the Outer Circle Has Changed Community
In the last 12 months we have worked hard to stay connected with our close, inner...
How Is Small Business America? Struggling, But Hopeful
As a small business owner, you grow accustomed to adversity on a daily basis, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
10 Crazy Examples of Waste in New COVID-19 Bill
Here are 10 crazy examples of waste and partisan kick-backs that have nothing to do with COVID-19 but are in the new bill.
Getting Conned by COVID-19 CON Laws
Patients have a higher mortality rate following heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia in states with CON (certificate of need) laws.
Will Cuba’s Vaccine Rollout Live Up to the Ad Copy?
“Cuba’s socialist approach to developing vaccines against Covid-19 differs strikingly from that of capitalist nations of...
Regulatory Shadows Make Dark Winter for Alaska
The federal government decided that Native Americans of Alaskan origin did not qualify for stimulus funding.
Dr. Fauci’s Refusal to Face New York Nursing Home Deaths Is Revealing
Thousands more nursing home residents may have died from COVID-19 than New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo...
How the Pandemic Has Reconnected Generations
Thankfully, in a time of immense sorrow and uncertainty, we are seeing new and creative ways to engage with our elderly.
Innovative Community Engagement on Fiscal Issues
Bringing residents into fiscal discussions requires complete and continual transparency on the part of the city.
“Nothing We Can Do” About Trajectory of the Pandemic?
“There’s nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several...
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s $417,608 Tops All Federal Salaries, but Does Performance Match the Pay?
The highest-paid federal government employee is Dr. Anthony Fauci, with a salary of $417,608 according to...
FDA Slow Walks COVID-19 Vaccine
Cumbersome regulations continue to block more vaccines able to save lives and help us return to normal.
Is Gov. Newsom Avoiding Science-Based Pandemic Policies?
Californians may be unaware that the state employs more than 4,000 scientists in agencies such as...
The COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Is a Mess
Despite the problems inherent in central planning, we are turning to state governments to allocate and administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Bureaucrats of the Year
If you were to give out an award for Bureaucrat of the Year, how would you...
Logrolling Fills COVID Relief Bill With Waste
The latest example of how professional politicians generate costly waste on Capitol Hill just became official....
Dr. Deborah Birx Gets Pushback for Violating Her Own Standards
“We cannot go into the holiday season, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, with the same kind of attitude,...
Early Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution Troubles Add to a Long List of Government Pandemic Failures
It’s been nearly twelve months since Covid-19 reached the United States. Since then, more than 19...
Technology Has Changed Public Engagement
Throughout the pandemic, it has become abundantly clear that local and state governments need to be technologically smart in order to engage with the public.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein Turns up in $2 Billion EDD Scandal
Back in the 1990s, a comedian was lampooning people who wore jerseys of NBA players. “Look,”...
Lessons from 2020: A Global Perspective on Covid-19
As this annus horribilis draws to a close, it might be appropriate to step back for...
Cities Come Together During Holidays Despite Restrictions
As the holiday season continues, cities and community organizations are also adapting entertainment events.
San Francisco Loosens Restrictions on Dating
Banning dating may give single people a good excuse for family members at Christmas, but it’s a costly overreach by policymakers.
New COVID-19 Vaccines, Same Sluggish FDA
In October, large portions of the United States began experiencing rapid increases in new COVID-19 cases....
The Top 3 Most Egregious Pandemic Restrictions
Democrat or Republican, we must continue to act in good faith. Otherwise, pandemic fatigue will become a pandemic in itself.
FDA Delays COVID Vaccine Review
An EUA allows the FDA to streamline the approval process in the case of an emergency, or if running a clinic trial is impossible.
Florida’s Governor DeSantis Chooses Liberty Over Mandates
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, many governments are imposing (or reimposing) mandates, lockdowns, and in general,...
To Live and Dine in L.A.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl believes “outdoor dining is probably more dangerous in terms of...
How Did Forecasters Get the Pandemic Economy So Wrong?
The stock market and the consensus of forecasters are two sources of economic intelligence that are...
State Employment Development Department Empowers “Biggest Fraud on Taxpayers in California History”
California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) doesn’t develop much employment beyond those who work there. On the...
No-Ho-Ho: The Economics of Holiday Gift Giving
With holiday gift shopping in season and the COVID-19 pandemic rampant, consider the relative merits of...
Thanksgiving for California’s Paradise Lost
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “Guidance for Private Gatherings” limits the number of participants at Thanksgiving celebrations and...
Tyler Cowen Is Wrong About Great Barrington Declaration on Lockdown Policies
George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen is attacking the Great Barrington Declaration again today on Marginal...
Was Dr. Fauci Right about Dangerous Gain-of-Function Research?
“Gain of function” (GOF) research involves the manipulation of viruses, and during the current pandemic it...
Future of Democracy Depends on Postal Reform
Postal reform is more critical than ever to ensure that vote-by-mail remains a viable option for the electorate for decades to come.
Misperceptions of COVID Risk and the Media
Media functions to divide us from reaality. Shark attacks make headlines. They play on our fears and result in tragedy and death.
No, Daring to Be Against Lockdowns Is Not “Anti-Science”
Economic lockdowns may mitigate the risk of transmission, but not without hampering the economy (which indirectly undermines public health).
Federal PPP Loans Put Corrupt Hands in the Till
COVID-19 has taught us that the government is bad at spending money. It might be different...
Nancy Pelosi and the 25th Amendment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to get rid of Donald Trump. She apparently does not have...
Pope Francis Misunderstands Markets, Squanders Moral Authority
“The fragility of world systems in the face of the pandemic has demonstrated that not everything...
Creative Engagement During Pandemic Uncertainties
Since March, engagement, on the community level and beyond, has surfaced as a vital aspect of emotional and mental health.
A Coronavirus Spending Scandal
Seven months ago, the U.S. Congress rushed to pass the CARES Act, a $2 trillion emergency...
Scientific Policy in Response to COVID-19
We have all heard, from politicians and from scientists, that the public-policy response to the COVID-19...
Economic Miscalculation and the Covid-19 Pandemic
As Covid-19 began to spread through the United States in February, many feared hospitals would become...
Pandemic Prophecy Not on the Rosy Side
Actress Jennifer Garner (13 Going on 30) recently asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, “When are we going...
FDA Approves Blood Plasma as Covid-19 Treatment
In the nearly eight months since Covid-19 arrived in the United States, the country has undergone...
Pelosi: It Was a Setup
By now, most readers will be familiar with Representative Nancy Pelosi’s visit to a hair salon...
The U.S. Economy’s Hidden Resilience
One of today’s pivotal questions is the ability of the economy to cope and adapt in...
Nancy Pelosi’s Bad Hair Day
As the world knows, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a wash and a blow-out at a...
Pandemic Convergence
“We hope to finish this pandemic in less than two years, especially if we can pool...
Play Ball!
I’ll admit to being a fan of college football, and have followed with interest the debates...
Will Small Businesses Stay Closed Post-Pandemic?
As many as 1.4 million small businesses closed their doors or temporarily suspended operations in the...
Is the Covid-19 Pandemic Spreading Affinity for Socialism? It Shouldn’t!
Famed Economist Thomas Sowell has long remarked that “Socialism in general has a record of failure...
Different Dread from the Fed
“The next six months could make what we have experienced so far seem like just a...
Where There’s a Will There’s a Won’t: A COVID-Related Tale of Bureaucracy
A tax-funded county library system, upon which I rely for research materials and Internet access, closed...
F.A. Hayek and the Coronomics Crisis
F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom influenced Ronald Reagan and in 1991 President George H.W. Bush...
COVID-19 Is Disrupting the Future of Higher Education
As the pandemic continues to push students toward alternatives, the pitfalls of a traditional college education will become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Ronald Coase (from whose essay,”The Lighthouse in Economics” our logo is derived) is rightly renowned for...
As the Pandemic Demonstrates, Leviathan Feeds on National Crises
Crisis and Leviathan is Robert Higgs’ great work of history exploring how politicians exploit crisis situations...
Media Groupthink Comes for Sweden
Like other public-policy issues, the COVID-19 pandemic elicits a range of perspectives. Some argue for […]
State Mismanagement of Covid-19 Data Continues
Mindy Clark of Sarasota, Florida, drove to a COVID-19 testing site at Manatee Rural Health because...
Federal Regulations Explode During Coronavirus Pandemic
The Trump administration has often trumpeted its effectiveness in reducing the number of regulations that U.S....
Coronavirus Crises: Everything to Fear from Fear Itself
The coronavirus has spawned crises on three fronts—medical, financial, and economic—and the tide in each turns...
Lessons Learned from Our COVID-19 Response
Our original response was heavy-handed, but the dangerous nature and quick spread of COVID-19 required a strong response.
Removing Regulations in Response to COVID-19
In many ways, the state and federal response involved turning to the private sector and to deregulation. The public, predictably, benefited.
The “Prominent Hole” in CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Federal government briefings on the current pandemic have failed to feature anyone openly identified with the...
The Rich Say: Tax Us More to Fight COVID-19
More than 80 wealthy individuals are petitioning for higher taxes on the rich to help pay...
Don’t Trust Government to Distribute Covid-19 Drugs
As new Covid-19 cases continue across the U.S., many states are preparing for a potential second...
The Revolutionary Creativity of American Independence
The American war for independence from the United Kingdom was instigated by a coalition of free peoples who asserted the sovereignty of their human rights.
President Trump’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ Vaccine Project Might Crash Into Perverse Incentives
This May, President Trump unveiled Operation Warp Speed, a partnership between federal regulatory agencies and private...
IRS Sent $1.4 Billion in Coronavirus Relief Money to Dead People
Proving once again that federal bureaucrats who do little other than spend trillions of dollars are...
Five Steps for Taming the Federal Spending Beast
The runaway federal spending that has accompanied the coronavirus pandemic will force a reckoning in the...
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Rand Paul: Unraveling Government Lies and Cover-ups During the COVID Pandemic | Ep. 19
Oct. 12, 2023
Oct. 12, 2023
