An unleashed public health establishment leaping outside their area of expertise to successfully push for lockdowns was the largest unforced error in generations, one whose effects we’re still feeling years later. Scientists who study the allocation of scarce resources toward desired ends are economists, not epidemiologists.

A basic truth of economics is that people respond to incentives. When you subsidize something, you get more of it. Public choice economics shows us that government employees likewise respond to career interest. Incentivizing people not to work and incentivizing another group of people to pump up their rookie numbers of people not working may create a slight inflationary pressure on the overall figure.