Disagreement on COVID-19 Policy: Global Policy

The world has more than 1.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 80,000 dead, and numerous countries tackle the public health crisis with mixed results. World leaders are in a hurry to reopen economies, and even public health experts have differed on how to contain the disease’s spread, with approaches ranging from the early prevention to delays and denials. Professors Benjamin Cashore and Steven Bernstein explain for Global Policy: “Given that decisions made right now have profound implications for whether, when, and how millions of lives might be saved, and that governments around the world have committed trillions of dollars in emergency funding, it is critical that society and policy makers also understand why such divergent policy advice is being followed.” They list four frameworks that influence policy development: competition and the tragedy of the global commons; optimization, the need for enhancing economic utility; compromise, which favors balance and compromise over hard cost-benefit analysis; and prioritization of morals or science while rejecting the calculations of compromise and optimization. The writers conclude that the first three styles dominate public policy thinking in most countries. – YaleGlobal