Policy Punchline

How can we use evidence, not predetermined cultural scripts based on past pandemics, to evaluate the current Covid-19 crisis? This is the question Dr. Merle Eisenberg raised in his recent Washington Post op-ed. When we talk about coronavirus, we often hear anecdotes from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Why do we focus so strongly on this particular historical example, and what do we miss out on when we ignore earlier histories, such as the Justinianic Plague (550-750 CE), which we will explore in detail in this episode. What are the differences between the way Covid is being handled compared to past pandemics? From the public’s social distancing measures to the rich people’s fleeing from crowded cities, are there any broad trends and patterns of behaviors during pandemics that consistently lasted throughout history? Are pandemics generally inequality-reducing (like how the Black Death ended Feudalism), or inequality-exacerbating (like today’s billionaires getting richer from Covid)? In this long discussion