[etangent]

Cases when experts propose something and then elites disagree with the experts are not surprising. It is the default state of affairs everywhere in the world. That's a "dog bites man" situation---essentially a non-story.

What is really surprising (and revealing) is when elites do propose something and then experts follow along even though it runs against their previous opinion from just a week ago. For a vivid example: most experts before the pandemic agreed that masks help limit spread of respiratory diseases, yet nevertheless in the very first few weeks of the pandemic most of them followed along with the completely unscientific claim that masks do not help and that everyone should simply wash their hands instead. Likewise, we had expert voices making sophisticated arguments that shutting down international travel would do nothing to limit spread of the virus---a claim that a middle-schooler would call out as largely bullshit.

[amanaplanacanal]

I suspect that by the time anybody suggested shutting down international travel (at least in the US), it was far too late to make a difference. The virus was already widespread, with no hope of containing it.