The authorities know best — until they don’t.

It’s late spring. A cargo ship departs from the port of Gascony in Southwestern France, heading for Dorset County in England.

Unknown to the sailors, dockworkers, and the locals in Dorset County, some of the crew carry a viral disease.

The disease spreads rapidly; it spreads to London, then finally to all of England. Half of the English population dies. Nah, it’s not Covid. The year is 1348. The population died as a result of the Black Death pandemic.

The economic fallout was devastating. People were too scared to leave their homes. And the few people who were willing to work demanded higher wages. Ring any bells for you?

But the ruling King Edward III reckoned he could fix that.

On June 18, 1349, King Edward issued the Ordinance of Labourers, which specifically forbade workers from earning any more than their pre-pandemic wages.

The king was trying to fix the extreme labour shortage by imposing wage controls. Like now, people said pay me more or forget it. King Edward’s ordinance didn’t work and led to a major Peasant’s Revolt

Not to be outdone by her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth passed the Statue of Apprentices more than two centuries later in 1563. England’s population had more than doubled, from 2.3 million to 4.8 million, and Parliament hoped its 1563 statute might “banishe Idleness, advance Husbandrye,” and deal with the huge numbers of poor and unemployed citizens.

But by 1600, poverty, unemployment, and vagrancy had become widespread.

Authorities throughout history have tried to control economies, especially during pandemics but with little long lasting success.

Perhaps they are smarter now. They will certainly claim they have better ‘tools’ and will continue to fiddle with the economy claiming they know best.