Phil Kerpen

Episode 184: “A Final Report Card on the States’ Response to COVID-19” with Phil Kerpen

We’re more than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. So by now, we should know enough to assess what we’ve learned about the measures our governments took to mitigate the virus?  What worked? What didn’t? Fortunately, we now have a comprehensive comparative study, published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, authored by University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan – and Steve Moore and Phil Kerpen of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.  They compared Covid outcomes in the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on three variables: the economy, education and mortality.  Their conclusion? “The correlation between health and economy scores is essentially zero,” say the authors, “which suggests that the severe lockdown states that withdrew the most from economic activity did not significantly improve health by doing so.” The bottom 10 are dominated by the states and D.C. that had the most stringent lockdowns and were among the last to reopen schools We can’t let this conclusion go.  We must absorb now what we’ve learned from what worked – and what didn’t work.  […]

Episode 115: A light at the end of the COVID tunnel? with Phil Kerpen

As Coronavirus lockdowns around the country are slowly starting to be lifted, I’m joined by Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment to talk about what shutting down businesses and social activities have meant for our economy and our social fabric. We also discuss what the future holds now that vaccines are starting to be administered.