The Case for the Private Sector

In her regular Wall Street Journal column Kimberley Strassel makes my case for me:

The coronavirus has “laid this bare: America was less prepared for a pandemic than countries with a universal health system,” declared Vox. The pandemic has “inflicted new stress on a system already too unequal to function,” wrote Sarah Jones in New York magazine, lecturing on the need to “devolve power from wealthy interests.” “The coronavirus crisis exposes the stupidity of Trump’s healthcare policies,” railed Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik. A Morning Consult poll suggests this opportunistic sloganeering is resonating, with 41% of the public more likely to support universal health-care proposals amid this pandemic.

Yet these claims are fantasy. Here’s the lesson of the virus so far: Relying solely on government bureaucracy is insane. To the extent America is weathering this moment, it is in enormous part thanks to the strength, ingenuity and flexibility of our thriving, competitive capitalist players.

Government will save us? How’s that working out for Italy? Even Mr. Biden made this point during the Sunday debate, reminding Mr. Sanders that “you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn’t work there.” Italy had 62 cases on Feb. 22; nearly a month later, that number is 41,000. It has recorded more deaths (3,400 plus) than any nation on the planet. Crucial miscommunication in early days between the central government and hospitals resulted in a system that is now overwhelmed and rationing treatment.

The U.S. is working hard to avoid its own worst-case scenario, and the federal and state governments are playing crucial roles in coordinating resources, imposing public-health measures, and keeping the public informed. But the single biggest mistake so far came from the government. The feds maintained exclusive control over early test development—and blew it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s failure delayed an effective U.S. response, and the private sector is now riding to the rescue.

The “crooks” at drug company Roche had started on their own high-volume test in January, and were finally able to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Google is up with a website advising people on symptoms; retailers like Walmart and CVS are converting parking lots for drive-through tests; private labs are standing by to process them.

As for other “moneyed interests,” no fewer than 30 Big Pharma and small biotech firms are racing for treatments and vaccines. Moderna turned around a vaccine batch in just 42 days. Gilead Sciences is already in Phase 3 trials for its remdesivir treatment for Covid-19. Straight off President Trump’s announcement of FDA approval for antimalarial drugs to treat the disease, Bayer announced it would donate three million chloroquine tablets.

Meanwhile, the loathsome “multimillionaires” at Comcast, Verizon and Sprint are guaranteeing to keep Americans online for the next two months, regardless of who can pay. Adobe and Google are making remote-learning tools available to schools, universities and parents. U-Haul is offering free self-storage to college kids. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures. The list of corporations voluntarily offering sick leave, pay for contractors and vendors, work-at-home flexibility, and donations to affected communities is enormous—and inspiring, especially given the general financial distress.

I’ll try to return to this in my status report but the reality is that at this point no country (other than reports from China of which I remain skeptical) has actually “bent the curve” appreciably. South Korea may have but it’s not bending particularly rapidly and it may succumb to additional waves of the virus. We just don’t know. What we do now is that it isn’t just us. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain all are seeing cases and deaths skyrocketing, just as we are.