The precautionary principle, i.e. theoretically structured panic in the times of COVID-19
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Abstract
The article deals with the precautionary principle. A hypothesis was formulated that the actions of decision-makers during the COVID-19 epidemic prove that this principle is a useful and valuable instrument for supporting decisions. The experience of a pandemic, associated with the need to justify drastic preventive actions, neutralizes a large part of the arguments critical of the precautionary principle. At the same time, the same research material enables new conclusions to be drawn about the practical application of the precautionary principle. The first part of the article discusses the concept of the precautionary principle, its definition, and the most important voices critical of it. The second one demonstrates that the observed current practice of applying this principle neutralizes a significant part of the charges made against it. Moreover, starting from the same observations, new areas of reflection on the precautionary principle in the context of making economic decisions in the conditions of uncertainty have been identified.
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