How policymakers and experts failed the COVID test

Five years after the COVID lockdowns, the perform…

An episode of the The Science of Politics podcast, hosted by Niskanen Center, titled "How policymakers and experts failed the COVID test" was published on March 19, 2025 and runs 59 minutes.

March 19, 2025 ·59m · The Science of Politics

0:00 / 0:00

Summary

Five years after the COVID lockdowns, the performance of government and policy experts is not looking great in retrospect. Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee find that policymakers dispensed with years of pre-pandemic planning that suggested the tools used to fight COVID would not work. Experts did not sufficiently consider the costs of their preferred approaches and spoke publicly of consensus while privately admitting limited evidence. Policymakers and experts deterred alternatives and suppressed dissent, leaving us with today's increased distrust of health and political authorities. The second Trump administration is now empowering the skeptics and taking advantage of Americans’ distrust of expertise.

Episode Description

Five years after the COVID lockdowns, the performance of government and policy experts is not looking great in retrospect. Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee find that policymakers dispensed with years of pre-pandemic planning that suggested the tools used to fight COVID would not work. Experts did not sufficiently consider the costs of their preferred approaches and spoke publicly of consensus while privately admitting limited evidence. Policymakers and experts deterred alternatives and suppressed dissent, leaving us with today's increased distrust of health and political authorities. The second Trump administration is now empowering the skeptics and taking advantage of Americans’ distrust of expertise.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

Nov 24, 2024 ·8m

Phil Cousineau: Turning travel into pilgrimage

Sep 12, 2024 ·30m

Barak Ravid: Israel and Hamas closer to perpetual war than a ceasefire

Sep 5, 2024 ·23m

Karthick Ramakrishnan: AAPI voters could tip the scales

Aug 29, 2024 ·22m

Shawn Fain: The fight against corporate greed

Aug 22, 2024 ·26m

Viet Thanh Nguyen: Defiant storytellers and scholars of memory

Aug 15, 2024 ·21m

Similar Podcasts

Challenging Climate Jesse Reynolds and Pete Irvine Asking tough questions about the science, technology, and politics of climate change, two climate researchers challenge leading experts on one of the defining issues of our age. Every two weeks, they explore how we can fight global warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, carbon removal, adaptation and solar geoengineering. Dr. Jesse Reynolds and Dr. Pete Irvine consider the roles of computer models and persuasive narratives, economics and public policy, and renewable energy and national security in the climate debate, and look beyond to issues such as biotechnology and international development.Support us at Patreon.Questions or comments? Email [email protected] or tweet @ChalClimateSee more information on Jesse Reynolds and <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/earth- Oxford Food Governance Group: The Politics and Practices of Food Oxford University The Oxford Food Governance Group is an interdisciplinary group of researchers from the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (InSIS), Said Business School, and the Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity (UBVO) at the University of Oxford, who share an interest in food governance practices. Looking at the politics of food distribution, sustainability, and governance of the food supply among other topics, this series will look at how we get our food and why it matters. The Muckraking Ida Tarbell and C. Gull Discussions of politics, culture, social justice, science, technology, and all the news that’s fit to criticize. Led by Ida Tarbell and C. Gull https://themuckraking.wordpress.com/ The Christian Science Monitor - News csmonitor.com A daily selection of audio reports from csmonitor.com

URL copied to clipboard!