Commentary “All the news that’s fit to print”—masthead slogan of the New York Times Did you hear the big news? A major meta-analysis conducted by the Johns Hopkins University’s Institute of Applied Economics reviewed 24 prominent COVID-19 scientific studies and concluded both that the lockdowns of the U.S. economy prevented very few deaths while causing tremendous societal harm (pdf). “Lockdowns during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic have had devastating effects,” the authors reported. Worse, “They have contributed to reducing economic activity, raising unemployment, reducing schooling, causing political unrest, contributing to domestic violence, and undermining liberal democracy. These costs to society must be compared to the benefits of lockdowns, which our meta-analysis has shown are marginal at best.” Not only that, but the authors advised “lockdowns should be rejected out of hand as a pandemic policy instrument.” Holy cow! Based on this data, we made a terrible mistake closing countless …