Policy

Policy articles provide in-depth analysis of social and public policy, examining their wide-ranging impacts on economics, social life, public health, individual liberty, evidence-based decision-making, and institutional accountability.

We cover critical areas such as healthcare and vaccination policies, pandemic responses and WHO, economic subsidies, national security strategies, withdrawals from international bodies, and pathways to reform that restore freedom, truth, and human dignity over centralized control.

All articles from Brownstone Institute are translated into multiple languages to support global access, foster international dialogue on governance and reform, and empower readers worldwide to challenge flawed interventions.

Why Were They So Obtuse about the Terrible Harms They Would Inflict?

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It’s essential we debrief on the harm we caused – the epidemiological harm we simply displaced and converted to economic harm that, at the end of the chain, has caused equally real people to suffer and die at higher rates than they would’ve had we acted differently. It’s irresponsible and unscientific to suppress discussions on the inconvenient truth that our response to the pandemic likely indirectly killed people.

Why Were They So Obtuse about the Terrible Harms They Would Inflict? Read Journal Article

The Paucity of Evidence for Mandated Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters

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Given these overall randomized trial findings regarding covid-19 vaccine boosters—absence of even a short- term reduction in mild covid-19 infections in those with natural immunity, and no data establishing that boosters prevent covid-19 hospitalizations, deaths, or SARS-CoV-2 transmission—there is no rational, evidence-based justification for covid-19 vaccine “booster mandates.” 

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Biden’s Throat Frog Hints at the Coming Normalcy

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The response to Biden’s infection should give us all hope that we can get back to normal, stop stigmatizing the sick, stop calling people who recover from Covid “survivors,” stop avoiding each other as if the human person is nothing but a vector of disease spread, and stop with this incredible cruel demand that every person separate from everyone else in the name of controlling a virus.

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First Comply, Then We’ll Grant You Some Rights

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The political establishment is so devoted to this cause that it is hard to see how we can extricate ourselves. Accepting the first lockdown was the decisive point. We sacrificed our rights due to fear, and nearly two years later, we still don’t have them back. It was as obvious then as it is now: power is never seized and then voluntarily returned. 

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What Does Focused Protection Mean for Nursing Homes?

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The control of COVID-19 spread, even to vulnerable people, is undoubtedly good – but it is not the only good. Some things in life – and death – are more important than COVID-19, and our public health authorities would do well to remember that fact.

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Is YouTube Now Presuming to be in Charge of Science?

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If these rules are strenuously enforced, millions of videos, interviews, television shows, lectures, press conferences, and scientific presentations will disappear. Maybe tens of millions actually. And all in the name of protecting “science” against its corruption, as if YouTube should be the determinant of what constitutes good science. 

Is YouTube Now Presuming to be in Charge of Science? Read Journal Article

The Life and Thoughts of An Unvaccinated Student in Germany

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My life will be much easier getting the jab in Germany but my heart keeps saying that I should not take it from my ethical and moral standpoint. Perhaps, I will have no choice left in the near future if the governments introduce the general vaccine mandate for COVID. However, I think the western governments should donate these vaccines and support more to the poorer nations instead of vaccinating the children and mandating the vaccines for those who dot not need them. 

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More Than 400 Studies on the Failure of Compulsory Covid Interventions (Lockdowns, Restrictions, Closures)

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What follows is the current totality of the body of evidence (available comparative studies and high-level pieces of evidence, reporting, and discussion) on COVID-19 lockdowns, masks, school closures, and mask mandates. There is no conclusive evidence supporting claims that any of these restrictive measures worked to reduce viral transmission or deaths. Lockdowns were ineffective, school closures were ineffective, mask mandates were ineffective, and masks themselves were and are ineffective and harmful. 

More Than 400 Studies on the Failure of Compulsory Covid Interventions (Lockdowns, Restrictions, Closures) Read Journal Article

jacobson test

Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates Fail the Jacobson Test

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A careful reading of Jacobson shows that it is not just an automatic consideration allowing the government to do what it wants when a pandemic emergency has been officially declared. Covid-19 vaccine mandates do not satisfy any of the required criteria in Jacobson, let alone all of them.

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I Fought for My Kids and the Liberties of Everyone: An Interview with Shannon Robinson, Plaintiff in the Anti-Lockdown Missouri Court Cases

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Shannon Robinson is a lead Plantiff who challenged the state of Missouri over what she sees as illegal and unconstitutional covid-19 policies mandated by the Department of Health and Senior Services. In this interview, she talks about her motivations and the process, and the widespread sufferings experienced by her and millions of others.

I Fought for My Kids and the Liberties of Everyone: An Interview with Shannon Robinson, Plaintiff in the Anti-Lockdown Missouri Court Cases Read Journal Article

Lockdowns vs. Focused Protection: The Debate Between Lipstich and Bhattacharya

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On November 6, 2020, the Journal of the American Medical Association sponsored an important debate between Stanford’s Jay Bhattacharya and Harvard’s Marc Lisitch over the policy response to the pandemic. They have very different points of view, with Jay favoring “focussed protection” and traditional public health measures, while Marc is on the side of the novel “non-pharmaceutical intervention” side, e.g. lockdowns.

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absinthe-green-fairy

The Moral Panic Over Absinthe Lasted 100 Years

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The war on absinthe – this won’t surprise you – created the opposite of its intended effect. It raised the status of the drink and created a completely unwarranted hysteria in both directions: overconsumption followed by bans followed by speakeasy indulgence. Can you think of anything else, perhaps, that has fit that general model? Marijuana perhaps? Liquor in general? Tobacco? Politically incorrect speech? 

The Moral Panic Over Absinthe Lasted 100 Years Read Journal Article

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