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Cautionary Tales · June 15, 2022 · 42m

The Pandemic Planners Who Were Ignored

Cautionary Tales

How governments around the world prepared detailed pandemic plans — and then ignored them when COVID-19 arrived. Harford examines why institutional knowledge evaporates between crises.

Highlights

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Every institution has a plan for the next crisis — filed in a drawer that no one opens until it's too late
Harford reveals that the UK, US, and most developed nations had detailed pandemic preparedness plans. When COVID hit, the plans were either ignored, outdated, or dependent on stockpiles that had expired.
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Institutional memory has a half-life — knowledge gained from one crisis degrades before the next one arrives
Harford argues that institutional memory degrades through staff turnover, budget cuts, and the natural tendency to deprioritize problems that haven't happened recently.
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