Government vs. Private Decisionmaking

The Federalist Society's COVID-19 & the Law Conference began with a panel discussion on "Government vs. Private Decisionmaking". The panel took place via teleconference on Thursday, June 11, 2020. How should societies respond to pandemic crises, and to what extent has the American response tracked ideal models? The key questions are the extent to which public and private actors take responsibility for actions and how those actors coordinate with each other. What considerations should govern the allocation of public/private decision making in confronting COVID-19? What are the risks and benefits of decisions being made by the government (at all of the different levels of government), businesses, and individuals? What, in the response thus far,has worked and what hasn’t? Do government decisions about what to close down and when to reopen them create serious crony capitalism and public choice problems or in such an emergency will politicians rise above those temptations? What, if anything, does COVID-19 tell us about Medicare for All? Featuring: Prof. Ian Ayres, William K. Townsend Professor of Law, Yale Law School Prof. David Hyman, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Health Law & Policy, Georgetown University Prof. Jason Johnston, Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation Professor of Law; Armistead M. Dobie Professor of Law; and Director, John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics, University of Virginia School of Law Prof. Anup Malani, Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School Moderator: Eugene Meyer, President and CEO, The Federalist Society ******* As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.