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Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19 - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19

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"A truly excellent book that explains where our pandemic response went wrong, and how we can understand those failings using the tools of economics." —Tyler Cowen, coauthor of the blog Marginal RevolutionHave you ever stopped to wonder why hand sanitizer was missing from your pharmacy for months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit? Why some employers and employees were arguing over workers being re-hired during the first COVID-19 lockdown? Why passenger airlines were able to get their own ring-fenced bailout from Congress? Economics in One Virus answers all these pandemic-related questions and many more, drawing on the dramatic events of 2020 to bring to life some of the most important principles of economic thought. Packed with supporting data and the best new academic evidence, this book offers a crash-course in economics analysis through the applied case-study of the COVID-19 pandemic, to help explain everything from why the U.S. was underprepared for the pandemic to how economists go about valuing the lives saved from lockdowns.After completing this highly readable, fast-paced, and provocative virus-themed economic tour, readers will be able to make much better sense of the events that they've lived through. Perhaps more importantly, the insights on everything from the role of the price mechanism to trade and specialization will grant even those wholly new to economics the skills to think like an economist in their own lives and when evaluating the choices of their political leaders.

ISBN-13: 9781952223068

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Cato Institute

Publication Date: 04-27-2021

Pages: 320

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

Ryan Bourne occupies the R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics at the Cato Institute and is a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and ConservativeHome. He has written on a number of economic issues, including fiscal policy, inequality, price and wage controls, and infrastructure spending, and has contributed to numerous books, including: Flaws and Ceilings: Price Controls and the Damage they Cause; Taxation, Spending, and Economic Growth; and A Fiscal Cliff: New Perspectives on the U.S. Federal Debt Crisis. He is coauthor, along with Kwasi Kwarteng and Jonathan Dupont, of A Time for Choosing: Free Enterprise in Twenty-First Century Britain. Before joining Cato, Bourne was Head of Public Policy at the Institute of Economic Affairs and Head of Economic Research at the Centre for Policy Studies (both in the UK). He has extensive broadcast and print media experience, and has appeared on BBC News, CNN, Sky News, CNBC, and Fox Business Network. Bourne holds a BA and an MPhil in economics from the University of Cambridge.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 What Does It Mean To Be Economically "Worse Off" During A Pandemic? 7

An introduction to economic welfare

2 Should I Be Free To Risk Infecting Your Grandma With A Deadly Virus? 17

An introduction to externalities

3 Did We Close Down the Economy? 37

An introduction to public and private action

4 How Much Would You Spend To Save My Life? 53

An introduction to the value of a statistical life

5 When Is A Lockdown Cure Worse Than the Disease? 65

An introduction to cost-benefit analysis

6 Why Was I Banned From Going Fishing? 87

An introduction to thinking on the margin

7 What Good Is A Pandemic Plan With So Many Unknowns? 101

An introduction to uncertainty and the knowledge problem

8 Why Did Protests and Marches Not Lead To Obvious Spikes in COVID-19 Cases? 119

An introduction to endogeneity

9 Why Couldn't I Get A COVID-19 Test Back In February and March 2020? 133

An introduction to regulatory tradeoffs

10 Why Was There No Hand Sanitizer In My Pharmacy For Months? 149

An introduction to the price mechanism

11 Does the Pandemic Show That We Need More U.S.-Based Manufacturing? 165

An introduction to trade and specialization

12 Why Is That Guy in the Mask Getting So Close? 181

An introduction to moral hazard

13 Why Did Airlines Get A Special Bailout But Not My Industry? 195

An introduction to public choice economics

14 Why Didn't My Workers Want To Be Rehired? 211

An introduction to incentives

15 Why Weren't We Well Prepared For the Pandemic? 229

An introduction to political incentives

16 Can We Really Just Turn An Economy off and Back On Again? 243

An introduction to the nature of an economy

Conclusion: What Is Economics Good For? 265

Acknowledgments 271

Notes 273

Index 299

About the Author 311