Articulate the vision outlined in the book for how pandemics would become increasingly rare under capitalism, and how we saw glimpses of this during COVID-19.

When capitalism flourishes, it is entirely probable that in a not too distant future a new virus with pandemic potential would be detected and gene-sequenced, and a vaccine developed, tested, mass-produced, and mass-distributed, in a matter of weeks, not months or years. This may sound like science fiction, but it is just another example of capitalism unleashing the unimagined that we discussed earlier—the technologies we enjoy today were the stuff of science fiction only decades ago. We saw glimpses during the pandemic of what progress is possible in areas where capitalism is allowed to function in relative freedom: biotech companies identifying the genome of COVID-19, diagnostic companies ramping up the production of tests, and pharmaceutical companies creating early batches of synthetic vaccine in record time and subsequently ramping up production and distribution so that all who wanted could get vaccinated.

Back