The relative performance of federal and non-federal countries during the pandemic

Abstract

The story of COVID-19 can be divided into two broad, overlapping phases. The first phase covers the period from the initial outbreak of the pandemic at the beginning of 2020 until about January 2021. The second phase of the story starts in early 2021, when effective vaccines began to be manufactured and administered to national populations. This chapter examines how the pandemic was managed, not how the economy was supported or how the balance was struck between the two. For purposes of economy of effort, and to achieve at least to some degree an apples-to-apples comparison, it focuses on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries. The United States of America is sixth from the bottom in the OECD rankings and put in the second poorest showing among federal countries. Former President Donald Trump questioned and actively cast doubt on the seriousness of COVID-19 and the need to take public-health measures to combat it.