Conversation

Sweden highlights the benefits of going the no shutdown route -- higher deaths, but also (contrary to what you read in the WaPo) slower economic growth than its Nordic neighbors cepr.net/washington-pos

(Yes, Sweden only has 40000ish confirmed cases, but it would be absurd if that were the actual case nr. with more than 4000 deaths.)

Should add: The Swedish epidemiologists on whose work this approach is based have suggested COVID spreads silently and will eventually reach everyone. The problem with this argument is if it's wrong, they've just murdered thousands. If it's right, what's the difference?

We're still some months out on seeing whether tracing and occasional increased lockdowns will yield better results, but... ... if the eventual outcome is fewer deaths AND less economic damage AND fewer societal disruptions, what should the consequences be?

Much of Sweden has a cultural problem with slavish deference to authority (why didn't you fuckwits dismantle your aristocracy?), analogous to the UK's. This creates a lot of situations where any idiot can spout off authoritatively and be heard. Time will tell, I suppose...

Sweden, officially, no longer has a gentry. The same families only own huge tracts of land and industry and host constant parties to mingle with the elites. I'm sure this has no consequences, like, say, rampant nepotism in Swedish institutions or other forms of corruption.