Much of Europe went into strict lockdown. I was and am still skeptical that they were right to keep schools open, but it was a real attempt that clearly was capable of working, and it seems to be working.
The new American restrictions are not a real attempt, and have no chance of working.
The way I understand it is that ‘being effective’ is making an efficient choice taking into account asymmetric risk and the value of information, and the long-run trade-offs. This involves things like harsh early lockdowns, throwing endless money at contact tracing, and strict enforcement of isolation. Think Taiwan, South Korea.
Then ‘trying’ is adopting policies that have a reasonable good chance of working, but not having a plan if they don’t work, not erring on the side of caution of taking into account asymmetric risk when you adopt the policies, and not responding to new evidence quickly. The schools thing is a perfect example—closing has costs (makes the lockdown less effective and therefore longer), and it wasn’t overwhelmingly clear that schools had to close to turn R under 1, so that was good enough. Partially funding tracing efforts, waiting until there’s visibly no other choice and then calling a strict lockdown—that’s ‘trying’. Think the UK and France.
And then you have ‘trying to try’, which you explain in detail.
The way I understand it is that ‘being effective’ is making an efficient choice taking into account asymmetric risk and the value of information, and the long-run trade-offs. This involves things like harsh early lockdowns, throwing endless money at contact tracing, and strict enforcement of isolation. Think Taiwan, South Korea.
Then ‘trying’ is adopting policies that have a reasonable good chance of working, but not having a plan if they don’t work, not erring on the side of caution of taking into account asymmetric risk when you adopt the policies, and not responding to new evidence quickly. The schools thing is a perfect example—closing has costs (makes the lockdown less effective and therefore longer), and it wasn’t overwhelmingly clear that schools had to close to turn R under 1, so that was good enough. Partially funding tracing efforts, waiting until there’s visibly no other choice and then calling a strict lockdown—that’s ‘trying’. Think the UK and France.
And then you have ‘trying to try’, which you explain in detail.
It’s reassuring to know that if the administrative state and the pharmaceutical industry fails, we have Dolly Parton.