Title: A little microbe that markets cannot help with

Authors: Thomas Lines

Addresses: Brighton, UK

Abstract: This essay discusses the British Government's policy for testing and tracing corona virus cases, as it evolved in England during 2020. A new centralised national system was created to be implemented by private companies under arrangements of patronage that were commercial in nature but not market-based. The merits and demerits of this approach are considered against a framework of three archetypal principles of economic organisation: democracy, authority, and exchange. The conclusions draw attention to the implications for wider economic theory regarding the efficiency of operations in this and similar spheres.

Keywords: corona virus; COVID-19; pandemic; public health; testing; tracing; outsourcing; economic organisation; markets; democracy; authority; exchange.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2021.118144

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2021 Vol.12 No.1, pp.55 - 59

Received: 20 May 2021
Accepted: 20 May 2021
Published online: 13 Oct 2021 *

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