It’s perhaps a sign of these increasingly hysterical times that such prosaic questions as whether the government should fund medical diagnostic tools or whether indoor spaces should be well ventilated are now political footballs; that matters of basic engineering and economics have become shibboleths of tribal loyalty.
It seems neither extremist camp – “COVID-zero” and “let it rip” – got the memo: the pandemic is far from over but it has transformed into a different, and unquestionably milder, beast. And this metamorphosis calls for a wholly different posture from both the public and our polity.
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Steven Hamilton is assistant professor of economics at George Washington University and visiting fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the ANU.
Richard Holden is Scientia Professor of Economics at UNSW Business School. Connect with Richard on Twitter.
