See, you darned people have too much freedom that you are not willing to give up
Democracies that failed the Covid test will struggle on climate change
Efforts to address both issues are hampered by externalities and behavioural biases
The second wave of the pandemic continues to gather pace in Europe and the United States, but the optimistic news about vaccines has trumped these worries in the minds of investors.
Because they see the global boost to economic activity from the vaccine as potentially larger than any loss of fiscal stimulus in 2021, the markets have interpreted the news as a demand shock, raising bond yields and damaging the relative performance of technology stocks versus cyclicals.
For now, this seems to be a rational response. But the persistent failure of governments in the major western democracies to control the pandemic has lessons for the future, particularly for our efforts to tackle climate change.
Public resistance to lockdown measures made early and strict restrictions, accompanied by effective test, trace and isolation policies, politically infeasible in most of Europe and the US all year. But aggressive restrictions and testing regimes have worked well in Asia and the Pacific.
The comparative results are stark. The cumulative Covid-19 death rate per million of the population is nearly 740 in the US, and 760 in the UK, compared with 3 in China and 15 in Japan, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Opposition to enforced lockdowns in the major western countries is to some extent based on a libertarian belief in economic freedom. This is a legitimate political choice that is usually fully justified but has proved costly in current circumstances. Furthermore, public support for strict measures has been eroded by serious operational failings.
Now, obviously, Japan is a democracy, and a good one, but, the Japanese people can also be very rigid in bowing to authority, so, they were able to lockdown. China? Yeah, that’s more what the Cult of Climastrology wants, an authoritarian government. Does anyone actually believe the China death numbers?
The failure of most western democracies to accept these arguments for early restrictions demonstrates the potency of the behavioural biases involved and their fundamental political belief in free markets.
How dare you believe in Freedom!
The effects of climate change also increase exponentially, albeit over a much longer period than a pandemic. Time lags between cause and effect are very lengthy, making interpretation obscure to the public. Externalities are unavoidable, and apply across international borders, making them even harder to address. Human biases leave us systematically underprepared to address serious but remote risks.
The climate problem is therefore even less suited to free market solutions than Covid-19.
In other words, authoritarianism for all, and you will like it, Comrade. Or else.
Read: Climate Cult Upset That People Can Make Their Own Choices In Western Democracies On Coronavirus »
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Scientists have been warning for years that climate change is a very real threat that mankind faces. But many, including prominent world leaders have ignored this. This may have resulted in inadequate response to the problem and we may be at a point of no return. These fears may be true according to researchers who say that global warming will continue even if greenhouse gas emissions responsible for it are reduced to zero.
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Gov. Kate Brown announced today she’s imposing a two-week “freeze” on many activities in Oregon because of the sharp increase in COVID-19 infections.
