Sharma Profile picture
Feb 24 7 tweets 1 min read
1. WSJ: The Lockdown Reckoning
Today brings still more evidence of what any reasonable person should have guessed in early March 2020. Imposing wrenching changes on a society without calm consideration of costs and benefits is bound to end in catastrophe.
2. Unfortunately since 2020 not many reasonable people have been running America’s public health bureaucracies. And so the coronavirus panic led to fear-inducing measures targeting just one of the many threats to human health, with hardly a thought for the collateral damage.
3. The powers that be also gave little thought to the unlikelihood that business lockdowns and school closures would somehow manage to stop the virus. (They didn’t.)
4. Accounting for the costs of turning American society upside down continues today. Along comes a series of reports from companies that have been paying for some of the collateral damage.
5. U.S. life insurers, as expected, made a large number of Covid-19 death-benefit payouts last year. More surprisingly, many saw a jump in other death claims, too.
6. Industry executives and actuaries believe many of these other fatalities are tied to delays in medical care as a result of lockdowns in 2020, and then, later, people’s fears of seeking out treatment and trouble lining up appointments.
7. Some insurers see continued high levels of these deaths for some time, even if Covid-19 deaths decline this year.

The health problems resulting from locking down society and terrorizing citizens into avoiding non-Covid care might last even longer than Covid?

The End

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More from @bansisharma

Feb 25
1. Observations From A Trip To Moscow

Many moons ago, I visited Russia. I had the pleasure of getting a personal conducted tour of Kremlin, which at the time was being prepped for a visit from the president of the United States. Image
2. Grand Kremlin Palace that was formerly the Tsar's Moscow residence now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin overlooks the Moskva River to the south, and Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east.
3. Kremlin Palace, Putin's current residence, surprisingly presents quite an austere look. Very high ceilings and columns, but huge walls with almost nothing displayed on them. The minimalist look was quite jarring actually. This was before Putin's time, but not much has changed.
Read 8 tweets
Feb 24
1. How Compromised Is German Leadership?

Since liberals admire German leadership, especially when Germany is at logger heads with America when a Republican is in the White House, let us see how Germany behaves when a Democrat is in the White House. Turns out just as badly.
2. German dependence on Russian oil and gas is not some freak accident or a casual oversight. No, it has deep roots.

Meet Herr Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder, Angela Merkel's predecessor. Gerhard Schröder served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. Image
3. Mr. Schröder, a personal friend of President Vladimir Putin, is a familiar face on the boards of some prominent Russian companies, including Rosneft, the Russian oil giant.
Read 9 tweets
Feb 22
Credit When Due

First thing Biden has done as President that is deserving of praise. EU allies too deserve credit.

👏👏👏
BREAKING NEWS

President Biden announced strong new sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for what he called “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Putin may not withdraw, but it would be a success if he doesn't go beyond Donbas. Far more importantly, it is an important test of the impact of sanctions and the will of European and other allies to act resolutely in unison. This is a dress rehearsal for sanctions against China.
Read 5 tweets
Feb 8
1. A Fucking Insane Idea That Has Taken A Strong Hold on Western Minds

Bear with me as a I explain how this whole framing is so stupid. Assume the data is correct. Just look at the news commentary.

Headline: Jaw-dropping Gender Gap for Jobs Image
2. "This appears to be about child care. Issues with schools and daycare centers kept women, who are typically primary caregivers to children, out of the workforce throughout the pandemic — and it's still happening," explains Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck.
3. Now it is reasonable and productive to discuss why women are primary caregivers to children. That would be a worthwhile discussion. But that is not the focus of all news commentary today. What is the focus? Read on.
Read 15 tweets
Feb 4
Supreme Court accepted a petition to hear Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard on Jan 24.

The case was filed by a group of Asian Americans who allege, with strong evidence, discrimination by the nation’s most prestigious school.
dailysignal.com/2022/01/31/har…
"Central to the case is Harvard’s especially distasteful method of discrimination: the creation of a “personal score” that, evidence shows, the school manipulates to give Asian applicants the lowest scores."
Harvard’s discrimination is discrimination via character assassination. For Harvard to suppress the vast quantity of qualified Asians (who make up 50% of the top SAT scores in the nation) from its admissions books, it questions their character and minimizes their accomplishments.
Read 12 tweets
Jan 25
1. A Non-Partisan Thread On Covid

It may surprise you (considering how intensely I dislike NY Times ethos in general) that I do like a few NYT columnists whom I find to be very thoughtful and insightful (remember Bari Weiss worked for NYT for a while and I loved her columns)...
2. Another one of my favorite NYT columnists is David Leonhardt. I don't always agree with him but I always respect his writing and pay attention to it. He has written a thoughtful column based on some recent polling on Covid that I am serializing in this thread.
3. Two Covid Americas
Covid’s starkly different impact on the young and old has been one of the virus’s defining characteristics. It tends to be mild for children and younger adults but is often severe for the elderly.
Read 18 tweets

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