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> Health officials should have no say over how people choose to live. I'd agree that health officials shouldn't be able to dictate how people live their lives,

> Health officials should have no say over how people choose to live. I'd agree that health officials shouldn't be able to dictate how people live their lives, except when externalities are present (and even then, it's a balancing act). But I think it's great when researchers figure out what the impact is of various common behaviors, so people can decide whether they wish to do those things. This article is just another iteration on that discussion. I welcome Dr. Oster's perspective on this subject because she is generally good at keeping her biases from poisoning her research, she has no conflicts of interest regarding this research, and she is thorough in her analyses. However, I am mindful that she is an economist, not a medical doctor, and I would tend to put more stock in an unbiased MD than econ PhD (even though I majored in econ and generally think the field is useful).

lelanthran 3y ago
> I'd agree that health officials shouldn't be able to dictate how people live their lives, except when externalities are present Everything can, and often is, argued to be an externality.
- comte7092 3y ago
  That’s just another way of saying that we live in a society, not in a social vacuum. Your actions have impacts on other that need to be taken into consideration and there’s a give and take that comes with that. It’s totally reasonable to object to rule by the “experts”, but Americas libertarian streak verges on childish more often than not.
  - lelanthran 3y ago
    > That’s just another way of saying that we live in a society, not in a social vacuum. Well, that was my point. It's pointless to say people should be allowed to do what they like unless there are externalities, and then, classify everything as an externality. It's just a more wordy way of saying that people shouldn't be allowed to do what they want.

lelanthran 3y ago

> I'd agree that health officials shouldn't be able to dictate how people live their lives, except when externalities are present Everything can, and often is, argued to be an externality.

comte7092 3y ago
That’s just another way of saying that we live in a society, not in a social vacuum. Your actions have impacts on other that need to be taken into consideration and there’s a give and take that comes with that. It’s totally reasonable to object to rule by the “experts”, but Americas libertarian streak verges on childish more often than not.
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > That’s just another way of saying that we live in a society, not in a social vacuum. Well, that was my point. It's pointless to say people should be allowed to do what they like unless there are externalities, and then, classify everything as an externality. It's just a more wordy way of saying that people shouldn't be allowed to do what they want.