OH FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: The Limits of Anthony Fauci’s Expertise. “The government disease doctor acknowledges he isn’t studying shutdown trade-offs.”

Does Dr. Fauci still regard life under lockdown as merely “inconvenient”? Of course economics is not his field, but presumably as a U.S. citizen he has noticed the gargantuan impact of the government response to the virus.

Yet there he was again yesterday on television encouraging more of the same as he remotely addressed a Senate hearing. “Dr. Anthony Fauci warns senators of ‘suffering and death’ if states reopen too early,” says a CNBC headline.

“Fauci warns that ‘consequences could be really serious’ if states move too quickly to reopen,” announces the Washington Post.

It’s important to understand that Dr. Fauci is only focused on one set of consequences, and it’s not clear he’s analyzing them correctly. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), who is also a medical doctor, challenged Dr. Fauci’s views specifically on the risks posed by Covid-19, as well as the disease expert’s central role in the federal response.

Dr. Paul noted that for young people, the virus has caused very low mortality, that many Covid-19 forecasts have proven to be wrong and that places like Sweden that have avoided strict lockdowns are doing better than many shuttered areas.

RELATED, FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: The economic devastation wrought by the pandemic could ultimately kill more people than the virus itself.

You know what else kills? Poverty and despair.