S8 Ep771: Tamny explores the misplaced reliance on expert opinion, arguing that the crisis began when epidemiologists became the "leaders of the economy." Comparing this to the 1980s AIDS scare, he notes that early expert predictions are often "first drafts" that c

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Tamny explores the misplaced reliance on expert opinion, arguing that the crisis began when epidemiologists became the "leaders of the economy." Comparing this to the 1980s AIDS scare, he notes that early expert predictions are often "first drafts" that can be incorrect. He contrasts 2020 with the 1968 "Hong Kong Flu," which resulted in 100,000 Americandeaths — the equivalent of 250,000 today — but saw no lockdowns, positing that society locked down in 2020 not because it had to, but because technology like Zoom allowed an "elite" class to stay home while others delivered their food. (3)
1918 COLORADO

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm John Bachelor.
0:11.1	This is the New John Bachelor show on CBS Audio Network,
0:15.1	and in my conversation with the author John Tamney,
0:18.5	his new book, When Politicians Panicked,
0:22.8	The New Coronavirus, Expert Opinion, and a tragic lapse of reason. author John Tamney, his new book when politicians panicked, the new coronavirus, expert opinion,
0:29.3	and a tragic lapse of reason. It is now late March, early April, and Washington is engaged.
0:40.6	The 20th century called it command economy. I don't believe that word was used in April in any negative fashion, but it was the same.
0:46.3	The economy of the United States was about to be nationalized, admittedly, half-heartedly,
0:48.9	but the effect is still with us.
1:17.5	John, no such thing as government investment, and yet that's how it was presented. No such thing as government picking winners. And that's how it was protected. In addition, John, there's no such thing as a government choosing who's going to lose if we don't intervene. That's what happened. You have a wonderful quote from Adam Smith, 1776 Adam Smith, that careful Scotsman, that capital increases with parsimony, capital decreases with profligacy. What happened in the spring of 2020, John, in the national government?
1:23.3	Well, the national government, after causing and subsidizing a national economic collapse, decided that it was going to throw trillions of dollars at it.
1:36.2	Basically, command and control was imposed, such that the U.S. economy was in desperate shape and businesses were dying and individuals losing their
1:45.0	jobs, at which point the very politicians who had enabled local and state politicians to wreck
1:51.3	things so thoroughly through $2.9 trillion. They were basically going to try to save with money
1:58.1	the businesses and jobs they destroyed. What they did is they just naturally
2:03.0	delayed the recovery because in a normal economic situation, a virus is spreading. Maybe people
2:09.4	do get scared. Maybe people stop consuming. Maybe people stop going out. Probably some businesses
2:14.8	die based on that. But the saving sets the stage for the rebound, as in suddenly the parsimony or parsimony
2:22.2	sets the stage.
2:23.4	It creates more capital for businesses to access to rebound.
2:26.9	In this case, politicians hoovered it up and just threw it indiscriminately at what they broke.
2:31.7	You name a Harvard professor, Jason Furman, whom I believe was in the Obama administration
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