COVID-19’s exponential growth has already offered the public a crash course in numeracy. It is also proving to be a crash test for systemic risk. While it is too soon for the final verdict, it is already clear that the U.S., not only its current leadership, will need a significant overhaul.
Taking systemic risk seriously is the ultimate governance test. Those who pass it know to shut down a city or an entire country when there are still only a few cases of a highly contagious virus present. Sara Cody, the public health officer for California’s Santa Clara County, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did precisely that in the face of COVID-19. Their decisive risk management has paid off in spades.
It also helps to have political leaders with a science background, judging by Germany’s success in managing the crisis under Chancellor Angela Merkel (a trained chemist), or Ireland’s under Prime Minister Leo Varadkar (a physician). And the fact that a disproportionate share of the most effective strategies has been implemented by governments led by women surely is no coincidence.
Disastrous response
The death tolls in jurisdictions that were slower to…
