A review by darrylb
The Great Covid Panic: What Happened, Why, and What To Do Next by Michael Baker, Gigi Foster, Paul Frijters

4.0

Compelling… but still lacking

This book breaks the Covid outbreak into three phases: the initial panic, the illusion of control and the end games. The book follows these three cycles and explains them. Most countries at the time I’m writing this are in the early stage o the end game or they are still in the second stage: the illusion of control. This book excels when it covers the first two phases, but is less compelling when describing the end games. This is not entirely the fault of the authors, but is in part because while the first two phases are documented in history, the final phase is in its very early stages and even then in only a few countries.

The authors do a great job of documenting three different types of people in society and their responses, including accounts written by those who typify each of the three stereotypes.

Overall, this is a great book and if you’re interested in understanding how we got here, why it is not the fault of any one individual but how it reveals that the system as a whole is broken, and want some ideas for how to fix it, this is well worth a read. If you’re thinking of running for public office over the next 2-3 years then this book will give you plenty of ways to think about differentiating yourself from incumbents and help you shape future public policy. :)