Thread by @jbarro

"We should be paid to stay home and provided food" Who will do the providing, Doctor? Can you contextualize that system for us?

https://twitter.com/JJRodV/status/1477352764514652164

A lot of these academic leftists are deeply confused about the difference between money and the economy. You *can* give people money even if their work is paused, but you can't free society of the need for certain productive activities to happen. You can't close everything.

And this confusion is how you end up with the idea that expecting certain institutions to keep operating and providing services (very often public sector institutions!) is "neoliberal."

For all the complaining about capitalism, this is exactly how Elizabeth Holmes defends Theranos. Why do you all so lack vision that you fixate on why my idea doesn't work instead of thinking about how cool it would be if it did?

https://twitter.com/JJRodV/status/1477690877317464065

We would “be provided food.” Getting food to people entails a constellation of industries with tens of millions of employees. Saying “lockdown” doesn’t mean food gets to people without them going to work.