A New Study

More than two years after our national public health bureaucracy, fronted by the infamous Anthony Fauci, MD, implemented a series of now proven ineffective and often catastrophic policy decisions on COVID-19, the first comprehensive studies are emerging on their effectiveness across different states who chose or rejected those policies (e.g., heavy economic lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates). The public health bureaucracy was cheered on by Democrats who, out of a combination of fear, stupidity, virtue signalling, and a penchant for authoritarian thinking, condemned those who rejected "Covidiocy." 

The Wall Street Journal reports on "the most comprehensive comparative study we’ve seen to date ... published last week as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)."

The top 10 in the rankings [states with the best overall results regarding health economy and education] are smaller states with the notable exception of Florida, which ranks sixth. Recall how the Sunshine State’s decision to open itself relatively soon after the first lockdowns was derided as cruel and destructive. Gov. Ron DeSantis was called “Governor DeathSentence.”

The study ranks Florida 28th in mortality, in the middle off the pack and about the same as California, which ranks 27th despite its far more stringent lockdowns and school closures. But Florida ranks third for the least education loss and 13th in economic performance. California ranks 47th overall because its shutdowns crushed the economy (40th) and in-person school (50th).

In other words, Florida did about average on mortality as other states, but it did far better in protecting its citizens from severe economic harm and its children from lost schooling. “The correlation between health and economy scores is essentially zero,” say the authors, “which suggests that states that withdrew the most from economic activity did not significantly improve health by doing so.”

You'd think that those who made catastrophically bad COVID decisions that hurt millions of people would reconsider their positions, but no. Just this weekend, Fauci was on TV suggesting that we might consider a return to mandatory masking. Amazing, but not surprising.

Fantasy thinkers NEVER believe that their policies are bad—they only think that the message needs to be tweaked and that doubling down on stupid is the only way to go. They should never lead.

UPDATE-1 (4-11-2022):

As if on cue, news reports today indicate that Philadelphia—a bastion of blue governance—has decided to reinstitute an indoor mask mandate. Yup ... doubling down on stupid.

UPDATE-2 (4-12-2022):

And a few days later, the Washington Examiner reports:

The Biden administration is prepared to extend the federal mask mandate further for transportation networks, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said. 

So ... more ineffective masks on airplanes, where study after study has indicated COVID transmission to be negligible. The Biden administration repeatedly achieves new levels of incompetence and stupidity, but this idiocy is just another example of 'doubling down on stupid.'