A Harvard study shows that meeting the Covid-19 pandemic required more than following conventional wisdom.
The researchers identified five fallacies that sound a cautionary note for the future:
A playbook can manage a plague. In fact, playbooks only work “if key actors agree it is the right play” and faithfully carry out their prescribed parts.
In an emergency, politics takes a backseat to policy. In reality, emergencies amplify existing issues in economic and political systems, including distrust of elites.
Indicators of success and failure are clear, and outcomes can be well defined and objectively measured. Actually, measures are always value-laden, change over time, and experts don’t agree which ones matter most.
Science advisors enable policymakers to choose the best policies. In fact, experts rarely speak with one voice and trust in science depends on overall trust in government.
Distrust in public health advice reflects scientific illiteracy. In fact, experts also dispute the “facts” among themselves.
The probable reason countries with superficially similar responses had different outcomes was because they had different operational implementations. That difference in culture, capability, responsiveness to new information were more important than the similarities on paper.
The existence of politically correct covid policy responses made it easy for countries to pay lip service to Woke shibboleths while concealing their actual deficiencies or inaction. You just had to copy and paste from the media playbook and you were a hero.