Following the Science: Pandemic Policy Making and Reasonable Worst-Case Scenarios

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LSE Public Policy Review 1 (4):6 (2021)
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Abstract

The UK has been ‘following the science’ in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in line with the national framework for the use of scientific advice in assessment of risk. We argue that the way in which it does so is unsatisfactory in two important respects. Firstly, pandemic policy making is not based on a comprehensive assessment of policy impacts. And secondly, the focus on reasonable worst-case scenarios as a way of managing uncertainty results in a loss of decision-relevant information and does not provide a coherent basis for policy making.

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Author Profiles

Richard Bradley
London School of Economics
Joe Roussos
Institute for Futures Studies

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Science and Policy in Extremis: The UK’s Initial Response to COVID-19.Jonathan Birch - 2021 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11 (3):90.

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