Use a 'contagion tax' to reopen part of the economy
by Fred Chen
April 16, 2020 12:00 AM
"Several states, counties, and cities in the United States have gone into shutdown mode to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus that has now infected over 1 million people worldwide. Amid reports that our healthcare capacity is inadequate to handle the surging number of cases, we also hear grumbling that the measures in place may have devastating long-run impact on the economy.
A major problem with the current approach to deal with the epidemic is that it is a one-dimensional solution to a multi-dimensional problem: It essentially focuses on one goal, lowering the number of new cases, without taking into account the enormous economic, social, and emotional costs of the predicament that we are in. There are, however, other ways to “flatten the curve” that would be better on all these dimensions.
In an epidemic, simple acts by an individual can have serious, harmful effects on many others. Because people may not consider or be aware of the effects of their behavior on those around them, public policies should be designed so that individuals in some way have to account for the impact of their actions on the rest of society. That means, in the context of the current pandemic, that individuals (and other entities such as businesses) who contribute to virus-spread should be “penalized” to incentivize them to change their behavior."
moar:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/use-a-contagion-tax-to-reopen-part-of-the-economy