“Follow the Science” Might Not Mean What You Think It Means

Here’s a guest post by ASU’s Richard Hahn, reprinted with his permission.  I suspect he’d be happy to respond to comments!

The problem with punchy slogans is that they are subject to (mis)interpretation. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become common for folks to urge policy-makers to “follow the science”. But what exactly does this mean? There is a version of this slogan that I strongly support, but I worry that many of the people invoking it mean something different, and that this...