How Much Was Stolen?
Many trillions flowed from your pockets in the name of disease control. Over the course of one year from March 2020 to March 2021, transfers amounted to $4.6 trillion.
BY BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE
Many trillions flowed from your pockets in the name of disease control. Over the course of one year from March 2020 to March 2021, transfers amounted to $4.6 trillion, money spent over the following two and three years, with additional infusions along the way.
These transfers had bipartisan support. The hot money hit the streets and fueled an inflation that sawed off a third of the dollar’s purchasing power. This is the story of our times. No wonder everything seems broken.
The great question: how much was siphoned into waste, fraud, and abuse? We don’t have precise answers but we have eye-popping evidence of vast pillaging. Presumably, there are ongoing investigations and some limited prosecutions but there is a very long way to go. We’ll be dealing with this for years.
The entire episode was ghastly – financially and morally. It also unleashed the greatest wave of populist anger we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Trust in government and media has hit new lows, while public health itself is wholly discredited. Lives have been shattered. The cultural consequences are palpable.
It will be years before normalcy returns if it ever does. That said, Brownstone Institute continues to hold feet to fire and seek truth and justice, even while sponsoring supper clubs nationwide to shore up community and friendship in hard times.
Take a look at our events page, which features a fantastic new map that is very easy to use. It helps keep track of Brownstone supper clubs spreading all over the country. Pick one and go!
On Tuesday, January 6th, the Greater Boston Supper Club welcomes Jeffrey Tucker, founder, author, and President of Brownstone Institute. He is also Senior Economics Columnist for Epoch Times, author of ten books, including Life After Lockdown, and many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press. He speaks widely on topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture. His most recent book is Spirits of America: On the Semiquincentennial. Jeffrey will talk about the loss of trust in everything and the devastating consequences thereof. Get tickets here.
On Monday, January 12th, the Midwest Supper Club welcomes James Bopp, Jr., distinguished constitutional law attorney and Indiana University Trustee. James Bopp, Jr. is Principal Attorney with The Bopp Law Firm, PC in Terre Haute, Indiana, one of the most prominent First Amendment practices in the nation. Mr. Bopp will talk about “The Importance of the First Amendment to America and Higher Education.” Get tickets here.
On Tuesday, January 20th, the Chicago Supper Club welcomes Jeanne Ives. Jeanne will offer critical insights into IL SB 1560. This bill, signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker on July 31, 2025, makes Illinois the first state to mandate universal mental health screenings for public school students in grades 3 through 12, with the state providing “free” resources to districts for implementation. Get tickets here.
On Wednesday, January 21st, the West Hartford Supper Club welcomes Renaud Beauchard, a French journalist with Tocsin, one of the largest independent media in France. He will discuss the parallels of what is happening in France and Europe more generally and trends in the US. Get tickets here.
On Monday, January 26th, the inaugural Manhattan Supper Club welcomes Lucia Sinatra, Co-founder of No College Mandates, an internationally recognized organization that has courageously led the nationwide charge to restore individual medical autonomy in higher education. Get tickets here.
On Wednesday, January 28th, the Austin Supper Club welcomes Del Bigtree, the founder of the Informed Action Consent Network, host of the rapidly growing internet talk show The HighWire, and executive producer of the documentary An Inconvenient Study. Del will share insights from producing two documentaries, including the accolades and critical responses to help provide context for the current changes and discussions within the CDC around childhood vaccine schedules. Get tickets here.
On Friday, January 30th, the Brownstone Supper Club in Bandera, Texas will be hosted by Sovereignty Ranch owner and visionary author Mollie Englehart. Mollie will present an overview of life on the ranch, discuss the remarkable twists and turns of her career, and lay out the vision of the ranch, including its dedication to regenerative farming and zero use of chemicals for plants and animals. She will also discuss the tremendous challenges of maintaining small farms that operate with integrity in times of corporate/government dominance. Get tickets here.
Here is some content since our last email.
The Heart of the Matter: Cardiac Risks of Covid-19 Vaccines By Michael Tomlinson. Evidence continues to mount indicating that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic was counterproductive and harmful, yet mainstream opinion continues to proclaim that it was a triumph. This is based on scientific papers that often manipulate the data.
Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy By Ramesh Thakur. The NSS articulates the administration’s national security vision and how the elements of US power will be used in pursuit of national security goals. It is meant to bring the different elements of his international policies into a coherent strategic framework.
Remember, Man, Thou Art Dust By Michael Hurley. I doubt that many prelates would appreciate a young priest telling his flock that their bishop “betrayed” them. Yet that kind of public confession in every parish is what we need to renew our faith in this season of penance.
Fraudulent Businesses Paid the Equivalent of the GDP of Somalia By Jessica Rose. Emma walked away to pack up her things while Nick continued to ask her the relevant question: Why is the government enabling fraud? She then implied that he hadn’t been listening to their hearings.
How a 2019 NEJM Study Misled the World on Vitamin D By James Lyons-Weiler. In January 2019, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study that was immediately hailed as the final verdict on vitamin D: it doesn’t work. The study, known as the VITAL trial, was led by respected researchers from Harvard.
The Fourth Big Lie of Vaccinology By Clayton J. Baker. The Fourth Big Lie of Vaccinology – declaring multiple simultaneous injections to be safe – is a reckless false assumption that has no scientific basis. The simultaneous administration of multiple different vaccines, especially in children, is now standard practice in the United States.
The Great War Was the Great Error By David Stockman. There was no good reason for the Great War. The world had stumbled into war based on false narratives and the institutional imperatives of military mobilization plans, alliances, and treaties arrayed into a doomsday machine and short-term diplomatic maneuvers.
Cochrane Admitted Guilt for Defamation By Peter C. Gotzsche. The Cochrane Collaboration publishes systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions. I was one of the founders but was expelled 25 years later, in September 2018, becoming the only person ever to be expelled.
An Open Letter to the Editor of The New England Journal of Medicine By Eyal Shahar. To summarize, this set of results does not demonstrate “real-world” effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines against symptomatic infection in a vulnerable nursing home population. Nor did the data from a study of Covid mortality of nursing home residents in Israel.
The Real War of the Century: Artificial Intelligence By Joaquim Couto. The real danger of AI is the slow erosion of human responsibility. The defining conflict of the 21st century will not be between humans and machines. It will be between two visions of intelligence: deterministic optimization versus meaning-making under uncertainty.
Should Argentina Leave the WHO? By Roger Bate, David Bell, and Ramesh Thakur. By engaging selectively, aligning with the United States, and preserving the option of withdrawal, Argentina positions itself to influence the future of global health governance rather than being shaped by it. This strategy safeguards sovereignty in a rapidly changing international environment.
How Long Has Industry Captured Vaccine Regulation? By Jeffrey Tucker. Among the many incredible revelations over the past five years is the extent of the power of the pharmaceutical companies. Through advertising, they have been able to shape media content. That in turn has affected digital content companies.
How a Grown-Up Health Care System Operates By Eric Hussey. If you get a chance to grow up and take control of your “health care” by understanding costs and paying for things in some form, like what happens with a Health Savings Account, you might just seriously consider that.
How Social Media Has Distorted Medical Judgment By Joseph Varon. As John Adams wisely reminded us, “Liberty must at all hazards be supported.” This includes the liberty to think critically, to question established norms, to engage in debate, and to practice medicine guided by empirical evidence rather than algorithmic determinism.
Arrogance, Ignorance, or Both? By Russ Gonnering. What is the relationship between education, knowledge, and wisdom? This is not a trivial question, and the ramifications are far from obvious. Our lives may literally depend on it. Let me illustrate the problem.