We at the Cato Institute have friends and family who have tested positive for SARS‐​CoV2. We have loved ones among the most vulnerable. Our hearts go out to all patients and their families around the globe who are suffering pain and loss due to this disease. We appreciate the inspiring dedication of our health care professionals.

Policymakers must approach this pandemic head on, with calm and humility. Calm, because a virus is not the only contagion we face. Panic is its own contagion, one that impairs judgment. Humility, because even when policymakers do not act out of panic, their best laid plans often go awry.

In that vein, policymakers must first discard laws that are preventing health professionals from responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Humility counsels policymakers not to assume in every case that they can better assess the benefits and costs of shutdowns or lockdowns than private citizens, nor that federal policymakers can do so better than states or localities. To ensure containment efforts are proportionate and do minimal damage to the American people, policymakers must base them on solid epidemiological information and commit to lifting them upon reaching prespecified targets.

With the need for urgency, calm, and humility in mind, we offer these principles to help policymakers meet this challenge in a manner that saves human lives and preserves human dignity.

We at the Cato Institute face this challenge with both trepidation and a firm belief in the creative capacities of human beings. We urge policymakers in the United States and around the world not to let fear and hubris lead them to prescribe cures that are worse than the disease.

Policymakers have made progress removing regulatory and bureaucratic barriers to health care providers and virus testing that slowed the initial response to the crisis. These efforts must continue, while recognizing that the diverse contributions of many across the nation’s vast medical and scientific industries are crucial in battling the crisis.

Government should direct any individual aid to those most affected by, and most vulnerable to, the economic dislocation. Policymakers should rely on existing mechanisms, such as unemployment insurance, not new programs.

Any government aid to businesses should be in the form of emergency loans to restore liquidity, not equity stakes or shareholder bailouts. Assistance should be broadly available, not tilted toward specific industries with powerful lobbies.

Federal spending to stimulate demand will have little benefit in the face of wholesale shutdowns and supply shocks. Instead, government should focus on eliminating trade and regulatory barriers and allowing flexible private-sector responses.

Notwithstanding the need for an urgent response, we must safeguard the rule of law. Although federal and state officials can claim special powers in emergencies, that is not a blank check to expand their authority. The Constitution must not be suspended even during emergencies. Extraordinary measures must end with the passing of the crisis, and sunset clauses included in all emergency legislation.

Blanket mandates to shut businesses are compounding the economic costs and harming the most vulnerable workers. Separating essential from nonessential business activities is problematic because industries are interrelated and many businesses fill unique roles unknown to central authorities. Government should allow businesses that can operate safely to do so. Actions in recent weeks show that American businesses are adopting new safety protocols and rising to the new challenges.

We must not permit a public health crisis to be used as an excuse to suspend civil liberties that are constitutionally protected. For example, government must not detain Americans indefinitely without trial or use technology for illegal tracking and surveillance.

Under our constitutional system, states are the front lines of disaster response. While the federal government has unique capabilities available in emergencies, decentralized initiative is key to America’s unique resilience.

The federal government has pursued unsustainable budget policies for years, while undermining personal savings. As a result, our ability to face true crises like the current pandemic is weakened. As the nation recovers, we must address our rising government debt and escalating spending.