Free Republic

They are already calling the current pandemic-induced economic crisis, “The Great Depression of 2020.” The paradigm is, of course, the Great Depression of 1929 that substantially changed the world’s model of development, signaling the onset of State intervention in the economy (the welfare state). Analysts are also calling it “The Great Jump Backwards,” because it will push the world back in time by canceling three decades of economic development. International agencies estimate the contraction in GNP worldwide at -5.2%. The Eurozone with be the hardest hit with -9.1%. “It is the worst economic recession since 1870, a devastating blow for...

In mid-March, as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold in Europe and the United States, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern presented her country with a choice. They could let coronavirus creep into the community and brace for an onslaught, as other countries around the world had done. Or they could "go hard" by closing the border -- even if that initially hurt the island nation's hugely tourism-dependant economy. Ardern opted for the second path. When New Zealand had only reported 28 cases, Ardern closed borders to foreigners, and when there were 102 cases, she announced a nationwide lockdown....

With the summer drawing to a close, the big question for nearly 60 million U.S. school-age children is whether they can return to school for in-person learning, or must remain at home limited to virtual education. States and municipalities differ widely on whether and how to re-open schools based on differing assessments of the risks of COVID-19 to children if they are in direct contact with each other and with teachers. Teachers’ unions are resisting school re-opening with political demands that have nothing to do with teaching, such as defunding the police, passage of Medicare-for-All, and elimination of competing charter...

A long-suspected fear of the Covid-19 lockdowns is starting to come to light. In many parts of the world doctors are pointing to a very real probability that lockdown orders are leading to people dying from other serious maladies as a result of avoiding hospitals. Heart attacks in particular are now looked at as a cause of death greater than the coronavirus itself. Almost from the beginning of our pandemic lockdowns there have been questions raised over both the wisdom behind the decisions and the broad application of the quarantine orders. Recall early on that Americans were lectured about the...

Europe can combat the new coronavirus without full lockdowns now that authorities are better prepared and have gained knowledge about how to fight it in recent months, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. “With the basic nationwide and additional targeted measures, we are in a much better position to stamp out these localized virus flare-ups,” the head of the WHO’s European branch, Hans Kluge, told reporters. “We can manage the virus and keep the economy running and an education system in operation,” he added. Europe has seen a steady rise in the number of cases for the past...

Online education just doesn't work for children with special needs. If we truly care about the marginalized in society, we have to open schools immediately. My son, now 11 years old, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder when he was three. Since then, he has been in intensive behavioral intervention treatment almost continuously until the coronavirus lockdown closed our city in March.His treatment is two-pronged: at-home therapy focused on everyday functioning (paid through private insurance) and an individualized education program at his school to target academics and socialization. He receives speech and occupational therapy services as a part of his...

If you’re hoping the COVID-19 pandemic will go on forever, this post may disappoint you. And, I get it. We have gone frothing-at-the-mouth nuts over a slightly above-normal virulence virus, with a unique and obvious age-distribution pattern that should have made containment easy and panic completely unnecessary. And, if you’re living in the United States, like I am, you probably think my declaration that this pandemic is “over” to be somewhere between wishful thinking and incredibly premature, and I hear you, too, although forgive me if I’m not sure you’re the one thinking clearly, given some of the things I’ve...

In a national panic, Americans permitted executives to take power—to declare states of emergency and to implement lockdowns—and now those executives won’t give that power back. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia often noted that the primary safeguard of our constitutional liberties is the structure of our government. Every banana republic has a bill of rights, he once said, but the strength of the American system is the separation of powers. At the federal level, there are three separate, co-equal branches of government that must operate together for our representative republic to function properly, and this balance of power is mirrored...

Latest RedState Column explaining who Dr. Scott Atlas is and why Trump's announcement that he's now part of his COVID-19 team is such great news.

Tens of thousands of Germans marched through Berlin on Saturday, proclaiming a “Day of Freedom” and demanding an end to government-mandated face masks and “social distancing.” The UK and Netherlands also saw large protests against their governments’ tyrannical actions in response to the coronavirus outbreak. ... Europeans are realizing that their government-mandated lockdowns did little or nothing to protect them from the virus, while causing economic catastrophe ... Sweden, which never locked down its economy, rejected face masks, and kept its restaurants and other places of business open, did not fare any worse than the countries that have been turned...

Texas has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, prompting the White House’s coronavirus task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, to call the state one of “three New Yorks.” Some have even blamed the state’s early attempt to reopen as the cause of surge. While the surge needs to be taken seriously, there are reasons to be optimistic. For instance, in Texas, testing has increased, the rate of positive cases are trending down, and hospitalizations are plateauing. Texas’ death rate of 20 deaths per 100,000 is much lower than rates in most other states. In a renewed effort...

This week’s gross domestic product report painted a stark picture; namely, a historic plunge in the production of goods, provision of services, and private investment. The nation’s economy shrank at a 32.9% annualized rate. That marks an actual decline of 9.5% from earlier this year. Meanwhile, massive government transfer payments funded by borrowing and printing of money caused disposable personal income to soar at a 42.1% annual clip despite the loss of more than 24 million jobs accompanying this economic contraction. The data bear out the everyday experience of millions of Americans. Government-mandated closures and people responding to what they...

California Teachers Association (CTA), the most powerful public-sector union in the Golden State, issued a statement asserting that, due to coronavirus concerns, state schools should not open .. The following day, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) released a 17-page “research paper” in which concerns about coronavirus were secondary to sweeping political demands — including Medicare for All, guaranteed housing, a wealth tax, a millionaire’s tax, defunding the police, financial support for illegal immigrants, and a moratorium on charter schools. ... The Los Angeles Unified School District fell into line ... The circle was completed on July 17, when...

There will be “intergenerational consequences for child growth and development.” ... lockdowns and school closures are doing more harm to children than the coronavirus itself, with many more deaths expected to come from the reaction to the outbreak, rather than the pandemic itself. ... UNICEF director Henrietta H Fore said Monday, “The repercussions of the pandemic are causing more harm to children than the disease itself.” UNICEF nutrition program chief Victor Aguayo noted that the most harm is being done “by having schools closed, by having primary health care services disrupted, by having nutritional programs dysfunctional.” The officials pointed to...

I’m disgusted. I’m embarrassed. My heart is broken for the America that we’ve lost. This morning, I woke up at 3am. I proudly announced on Fox and Friends First that Law Enforcement Today was proudly joining a number of other groups in taking part in the largest Back the Blue event in America. Acclaimed keynote speaker Paul Butler and I were going to be the joint Masters of Ceremonies. We had rock and roll legend Ted Nugent flying in for the National Anthem – accompanied by Congressman Clay Higgins, the keynote speaker. The first wave in the attack came from...

Locking down civilians will not eradicate the coronavirus -- despite several governors' claims and actions to the contrary, Hoover Institution fellow Dr. Scott Atlas said Thursday. And the U.S. is also not handling the virus as badly as some have claimed, Atlas said on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle." "I'm cautiously optimistic because we actually know a lot now. We know the fatality rate is much lower and we know who to protect, we are doubling down on the protection of the high-risk group. We are doing better with patients in the hospital. I think we have to tell the...

Lockdowns have not had a big impact on coronavirus death rates around the world, scientists have claimed. Dozens of countries have been forced to tell people to stay home and close shops in a bid to stop the Covid-19 pandemic since it broke out in January. But now a study has claimed the drastic measures don't even work. They found whether a country was locked down or not was 'not associated' with death rate.

Health professionals nationwide released statements in a Tea Party Patriots Action Second Opinion Project email on Thursday that they believe schools should reopen and that it is the safest option for kids. The consensus among the physicians, that kids would benefit academically, socially, and health-wise from schools reopening this fall, echoes a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released on July 10 addressing the issue of schools reopening in the fall. “We recognize that children learn best when physically present in the classroom. But children get much more than academics at school. They also learn social and emotional...

My question is, where did Newsom get the idea for lock downs? He was the first to do it then it seemed to spread to NY and soon we had the regional plans lead by Newsom and Cuomo that every nearby rat governor blindly mimicked.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden has drawn international attention for its unorthodox approach to managing the virus' spread. The Nordic state didn't impose strict lockdown measures, instead asking citizens to stay home if they were sick and to practice social distancing in public. Bars, restaurants, and shops stayed open, even when cases peaked in the country. Its relaxed coronavirus strategy, relying on personal responsibility and willful obedience, has been both praised and criticized. And while the jury is still out on the effectiveness of the country's public-health approach, there is growing evidence that, economically speaking, the loose rules seem to...