American Wonk

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk about Biden’s acceptance speech at the Democratic convention. can the federal government force every American to wear a mask? Should you go see Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster move in a theater? We discuss that and more in under […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk about the latest COVID stats — why is California, a lockdown state, seeing a rise in cases while Texas declines? Why are Democrats mad about President Trump tapping Scott Atlas for his Coronavirus Task Force? Catch Scott Atlas […]

On today’s episode of American Wonk, Avik Roy talks to FREOPP Visiting Fellow Robert Bryce about juice. No, not apple juice, but the juice that powers our smartphones, our homes, and our cars. Can we keep energy affordable for all Americans while reducing carbon emissions? Listen to find out. Watch Bryce’s new documentary, “Juice: How […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about Avik’s Saturday Essay in the Wall Street Journal on school reopenings, what can we learn from the European experience. Also, can the college football season be saved? Will anyone listen to the players?

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet ask: why does the media only focus on bad news? You wouldn’t know from the headlines that COVID-19 cases have been declining all over the country. Is it a relentless chase for clicks? Does Trump get a fair shake? Let’s […]

Melbourne, Australia has issued new lockdown restrictions for the next six weeks, including: a curfew between 8pm-5am, residents cannot travel further than 5km from their own home, are only permitted to be outside for one hour a day, cannot go to the supermarket in twos, cannot invite visitors to their home, and cannot go to […]

The latest COVID-19 data out of Sweden suggests that not only is the country approaching zero deaths on a daily basis, they are also approaching zero new cases. Has Sweden reached herd immunity, and if so, how long until we do so here in the U.S.? Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy and Scott Immergut discuss the “Sweden theory,” which is that one-size-fits-all lockdowns are futile because the moment they are lifted, cases start to come back. But how long will it take for Sweden to reach herd immunity with this strategy? This past week, baseball made its […]

Today, Scott Gottlieb, former FDA Commissioner under the Trump administration, tweeted that “to safely return kids to in-class learning, schools will need detailed guidance on reducing COVID risk. They may have to look elsewhere, to state documents as well as foreign public health authorities that issued detailed, science driven guidance.” Yet, this morning, the CDC […]

Today, pharmaceutical company Pfizer and biotech firm BioNTech announced that the U.S. government will award the companies nearly $2 billion to produce their COVID-19 vaccine if it proves to be safe and effective. The contract will account for 600 million doses of the vaccine, with the first 100 million promised by the end of 2020. […]