How do you see this trend evolving?

Doug Casey: It's clearly a worldwide trend. The only exceptions are obscure places like North Macedonia, Belarus, and Nicaragua—and they have plenty of other, much more serious problems—and of course, Sweden, which is almost unique among advanced countries in not falling victim to the mass hysteria. Life there has gone on more-or-less normally since March as a result.

It's not just the national governments, which are bad enough. States, provinces, cities, and counties have taken advantage of the hysteria to "do something" and lock down. For example, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is putting armed guards around main entrances to New York to keep people out.