The state in the time of covid-19
Big government is needed to fight the pandemic. What matters is how it shrinks back again afterwards
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IN JUST A few weeks a virus a ten-thousandth of a millimetre in diameter has transformed Western democracies. States have shut down businesses and sealed people indoors. They have promised trillions of dollars to keep the economy on life support. If South Korea and Singapore are a guide, medical and electronic privacy are about to be cast aside. It is the most dramatic extension of state power since the second world war.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Everything’s under control"
From the March 28th 2020 edition
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