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Epidemic disease and the state: Is there a tradeoff between public health and liberty?
1Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason Univeristy, Fairfax, USA.
Abstract:
This paper examines the political economy of epidemic disease. First, it outlines the incentive and information problems facing policymakers in responding to a new epidemic. Second, it considers the existence of a tradeoff between public health and freedom. Informed by a survey of the history of public health and an analysis of the response to Covid-19, it presents evidence that such a tradeoff can obtain in the short run but that, in the long run, the negative relationship is reversed and the trade-off disappears.
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