As COVID-19 spread across the globe, why was the U.S. caught so unprepared? An investigation of how America’s leaders failed to prepare and protect us — and who is accountable.
Public Health
Coronavirus, Culture, Police, Public Health, Race
Frontline: Race, Police, and the Pandemic
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
As streets across America erupt into clashes over racism during the coronavirus pandemic, Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker examines a connection between George Floyd’s death and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 deaths among African Americans: “the thing that ties them together is empirical evidence of a phenomenon that had been dismissed otherwise.” Cobb describes how the relationship…
America, Authoritarianism, Corruption, Economy, Public Health, Trump, Unfit
Trump’s American Carnage
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Budget, Coronavirus, Public Health, University, UW Madison, UW System
UW System President Ray Cross’s Overreach
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Outgoing UW System President Ray Cross claims he has a long-range plan for the System, and he’s insistent that now is the time for its implementation. Henry Redman of the Wisconsin Examiner reports on the reasonable concern that Cross’s rush to implementation presents in UW faculty worry about ‘power grab’ by Cross at budget listening…
Coronavirus, Local Government, Natural Disaters, Public Health, State Government, Walworth County
Local Government Before a Flood
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Imagine that, during flooding near a small town, the town’s levees are about to fail. How might local officials respond to this impending calamity? 1. They might deny that there is a flood. 2. They might admit that there is a flood, but deny that the levees are failing. 3. They might admit that there…
Coronavirus, Documentary, Public Health
Frontline‘s Covering Coronavirus: Inside Italy’s COVID War (Full Film)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
A rare and harrowing look inside a hospital hard-hit by the coronavirus in northern Italy, following the stories of an ER doctor, her staff and patients battling COVID-19. With unprecedented and intimate access, FRONTLINE goes inside a besieged hospital unit in the region at the epicenter of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, where doctors and nurses try…
Coronavirus, Economics, Economy, Employment, Federal Reserve, Public Health
Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s Interview on Economic Recovery
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Last night, 60 Minutes broadcast an interview with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in which Powell discussed current economic conditions and prospects for recovery. (Powell sat for the interview on Wednesday, 5.13.20 with Scott Pelley of CBS News.) The interview is available online, as is a transcript. Below are excerpts from the transcript (although Powell’s…
Immigration, Public Health
Immigrant Heroes
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Coronavirus, Courts, Federal Government, Law, Local Government, Public Health, State Government, Trump
Practical Implications After Wisconsin v. Palm: The Divide over the Novel Coronavirus
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
On March 24th, I first began a draft of this post. It seemed to probable then – and it is true now – that Trump would effectually abandon a social distancing or stay-at-home approach, and encourage business as usual to resume promptly. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling in Wisconsin v. Palm has brought that abandonment to Wisconsin…
Coronavirus, Federal Government, Local Government, Planning, Politics, Public Health, State Government
A Necessary Public Policy Question
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Now, and ending one knows not when, public policy proposals that involve human interaction should address, as a necessary element, the question of whether the coronavirus pandemic affects the proposal. A person might assume that he could walk through a forest without ever encountering a wolf, and even convince himself that, by power of suggestion…
Coronavirus, Economy, Employment, Public Health
Again – Consumer Sentiment
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
A story from the Wall Street Journal reminds that ‘re-opening’ is futile without broad-based consumer demand. Austen Hufford and Bob Tita report Factories Close for Good as Coronavirus Cuts Demand (‘Some manufacturers that furloughed employees during lockdowns say plants won’t reopen’): Factory furloughs across the U.S. are becoming permanent closings, a sign of the heavy damage…
America, Coronavirus, Economy, Public Health, Trump
Mourning in America
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Business, CDA, Coronavirus, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, Public Health, Retail/Merchants
Consumer Sentiment
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Much of the ‘reopening’ advocacy rests on the idea that after allowing a business to reopen, that business will see an adequate return of customers. While some businesses may see adequate customer demand, it’s almost certain that others will not. It has never been true that simply opening a business would assure its survival. If…