[downerending]

> complete failure of the US to suppress transmission rates

Hmm. Our curves look exactly like Spain and Italy, and indeed almost every exposed country appears to be on the same curve (with differing lags).

A few countries seem to be doing significantly better, but it's far from clear why.

[standardUser]

These curves are all lagging by weeks, and are influenced heavily by test rates and transmission rates. Our tests rates are low (until about 3 days ago) and our transmission rates are high (because many populous states have issues no shelter-at-home directives). You don't have to wait long to see more clearly, just about a week.

[downerending]

To clarify, I'm talking about the death curves--these seem to be the most credible statistics. Looking at those, most of the curves do not look significantly different. The exceptions are (perhaps) China, South Korea, and Japan.

China's credibility on mass death statistics is a bit shaky, and Japan has had a serious moral hazard given their 2020 Olympic hosting (and there has been a sudden blip in Tokyo in the last day or two).

Looking at the curves, though, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that that of the USA, however bad, is not obviously different than those of most countries currently undergoing the epidemic.

Perhaps some think the US should be significantly better than most countries. I'm not really a believer in exceptionalism myself.