This is due in part to to twenty years of stimulus-driven economic growth based on blowing up and sustaining bubbles through easy money. But it is now made much worse by the fact that many governments have frozen their states' and nations' economies, shut down businesses, and prevented markets from adapting to the new realities of consumers and workers in a world with a heightened risk of disease.

The result has been catastrophic unemployment, with 30 million Americans filing for unemployment over the past six weeks (one survey puts it at 50 million). In states that insist on continuing with widespread coercive economic shutdowns, the numbers will only keep getting worse.

Many policymakers, unfortunately, continue to pretend that the costs associated with these shutdowns are minimal or insignificant. Those who speak up against the shutdowns—whether from the perspective of protecting human rights, or simply on pragmatic grounds—are often shouted down as choosing filthy lucre over public health.

The reality, however, is that when unemployment leads to impoverishment or loss of social status, it is itself a major health problem.

This has been evident in research for many years, but since this narrative does not support the myopic and single-minded drive toward "fighting COVID-19" at all costs, many politicians and "experts" simply wave these facts aside. The policymakers continue to pretend that everything will be fine once the politicians unilaterally decide that there has been "enough testing" or that things are "under control," or whatever arbitrary goal has been set to justify recognizing people's basic human rights to seek employment and run their own businesses.