From relaxed TSA rules to speedy FDA approvals, the coronavirus is forcing authorities to admit many of their regulations are unnecessary.
by Nick Gillespie
Reason.com
Man, it seems like only a few days ago that the smart set was writing off small-government types (again!) in articles with such snarky headlines as “There Are No Libertarians in a Pandemic.”
By now it might be more correct to believe there are only libertarians in a pandemic, including officials who are suddenly willing and able to waive all sorts of ostensibly important rules and procedures in the name of helping people out.
How else to explain the decision by the much-loathed and irrelevant-to-safety Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to allow family-sized jugs of hand sanitizer onto planes? The TSA isn’t going full Milton Friedman—it’s reminding visitors to its website “that all other liquids, gels and aerosols brought to a checkpoint continue to be allowed at the limit of 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters carried in a one quart-size bag.” But it’s a start.