February 14, 2023

Florida Beats California, Again. Here’s the Comparison

Dr. Joel Zinberg

Former Director at Public Health and American Well-Being Initiative

Dr. Zinberg is the Director of the Public Health and American Well-Being Initiative at Paragon Health Institute. A native New Yorker, he recently served in the White House as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council, from 1/2025 to 8/2026. Previously, he completed two years as General Counsel and Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President in 2017-2019.

Brian Blase

President at Paragon Health Institute

Brian Blase, Ph.D., is the President of Paragon Health Institute. Brian was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017-2019, where he coordinated the development and execution of numerous health policies and advised the President, NEC director, and senior officials. After leaving the White House, Brian founded Blase Policy Strategies and served as its CEO.

The COVID-19 pandemic elicited unprecedented government interventions into American life. Yet, the stringency and duration of government measures varied considerably across the U.S.

A new Paragon Health Institute study we coauthored confirms what many long suspected: more severe lockdowns did not significantly improve health outcomes but led to much worse economic and education outcomes. States that eschewed federal proclamations tended to do far better than states that adopted severe measures, like closing businesses and schools.

Under our constitutional system of government, public health decisions are generally reserved to the states. The different approaches each state took to deciding which measures to impose and for how long created a natural experiment.

We compared a quantitative index created by Oxford University of government measures taken to combat COVID-19 – including workplace and school closures, public event cancellations, stay-at-home requirements, and masking policies – to health, economic and educational outcomes across states. States with more severe government interventions did not have better health outcomes, as measured by COVID deaths (adjusted for age and pre-existing conditions) and all-cause excess mortality than less restrictive states.

The full article can be found in Fox News.

Public Health

COVID-19, Gavin Newsom, Lockdown, Ron DeSantis