“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
- Milton Friedman.
Shortly before President Trump was diagnosed with coronavirus last week, two Boeing E-6B Mercury planes took off from each of the US coasts. The planes in question can be used to send ballistic missile commands and form part of the US defence system. The history of US nuclear defence, however, is not exactly flawless. On 24 January 1961, for example, a United States B-52 Stratofortress carrying two nuclear bombs lost altitude over Goldsboro, in rural North Carolina. The plane had sustained a fuel leak in its right wing, so the crew were advised to maintain a holding pattern along the coast to conserve fuel. But the leak soon worsened, and the plane was running out of fuel. The crew were advised to return immediately to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base..
Download A brief history of economic policy triumphs
