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All policies are wrong, but some are useful—and which ones do no harm?

Author

Listed:
  • Mario Brito

    (University of Southampton Business School)

  • Maxwell Chipulu

    (University of Southampton Business School)

  • Ian G. Dawson

    (University of Southampton Business School)

  • Yaniv Hanoch

    (University of Southampton Business School)

  • Konstantinos V. Katsikopoulos

    (University of Southampton Business School)

Abstract

The five of us research and teach risk analysis with an eye towards decision support. Our work has been dedicated to taming risks and helping to make challenging decisions. But nothing had prepared us for the Covid-19 pandemic. We first had to grapple with the news coming from abroad, including, for some of us, our home countries. Then, some information and research, but mostly opinions, started coming in from our academic community, and we felt the tensions. Finally, the UK went into an unofficial and then official lockdown, and all University staff were asked to redirect their research capacity so as to support the national effort for risk analysis and decision support. As we write this on the 20th of April, many countries, including the UK, are starting to consider how to get out of lockdown. Like the previous stages of the pandemic, there is little data, perhaps a bit more research, surely many more opinions, and definitely an overwhelming amount of personal experiences and thoughts. Here we reflect on all of the above, just in case it can help the readers of this Minds in Society flash editorial to think and act, or at least, to not have to do so entirely on their own. As it can be expected, our collage introduces more questions than it can answer.

Suggested Citation

  • Mario Brito & Maxwell Chipulu & Ian G. Dawson & Yaniv Hanoch & Konstantinos V. Katsikopoulos, 2021. "All policies are wrong, but some are useful—and which ones do no harm?," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 20(1), pages 119-122, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:minsoc:v:20:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11299-020-00251-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11299-020-00251-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Slovic, 1993. "Perceived Risk, Trust, and Democracy," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(6), pages 675-682, December.
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    Keywords

    Covid-19; Risk; Decision; Policy;
    All these keywords.

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