Update 440 — Fed Chair Powell to Congress:Spend Much More, Fast, or Risk Depression Approaching Memorial Day, it is now two months ago that Congress approved $2.1 trillion in spending in response to the economic impact of the Coronavirus. About 98 percent of all COVID fatalities in the U.S. have occurred since then. How have …
Update 439: HEROES Welcome in the House But Path to COVID Relief in Congress Unclear Despite the unrelenting bad economic news — 36 million unemployed in under two months, trillions of dollars of savings and other assets gone, forty percent of all households earning under $40,000 lost jobs in March — and the conspicuous inadequacy of …
Update 438: Liberties, Livelihoods, and Lives:McConnell’s Curious COVID Immunity Bid The administration and GOP members of Congress have urged policies to accelerate the reopening of the economy. Relief and rules providing incentives for a return to work are the order of the day. Then why advocate, let alone insist on, a policy that makes it much riskier, …
Update 437: 20.5 Mil. in US Lost Jobs in April,25 Times Loss in Worst Month of 2008 Crash The superlatives will abound in headlines around the nation, as Americans try to fathom the meaning of 14.7 percent official unemployment. Wasn’t it just 3.7 the day before yesterday? As for tomorrow, who can say? Today, we …
Update 436: Corona Plan Candidate AssessmentBiden’s Economic Policy Response to COVID Far from the glare of the lights and the cameras focused on President Trump, the breathless media coverage of COVID’s progress, and our sheltered in place lives are the plans and pronouncements of a man bidin’ his time, streaming away from his famous basement. …
Update 435 – Democracy in the Era of Corona:U.S. to Have a Legitimate Election in November? Canceled primary elections, depressed turnout in elections held, the prospect of virtual conventions, massive small donor withdrawals, physical risks of in-person voting, and skewed outcomes make ballot access and democratic participation urgent matters this year. To enact even temporary …
Update 434 — Federal Bailout Policy 2020: Picking Winners/Losers vs. Sacrificing Jobs The political toxicity of bailouts was perhaps best conveyed by former Republican South Carolina Governor, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N, and Boeing Director Nikki Haley, who quit her Board seat last month, saying “I cannot support a … federal bailout that prioritizes our …
Update 432 — Fed’s Flurry of Credit Facilities: $6 Trillion Balance Sheet Arsenal Explained The Fed unveiled a panoply of programs this month and last designed to alleviate deteriorating credit access nationwide. The programs range from a backstop for the $4 trillion money-market industry to direct bridge loans for businesses. Which of these is tried and …
Update 431— Policy Prescriptions for COVID:After Pain Relief, a Plan to Help Get to Recovery Twenty-two million Americans have filed for unemployment compensation in the last month — the misery index that is 5 million higher than last week. Meanwhile, the House and Senate do not reconvene until May 4, in a virtual but voteless …
Update 430 — The States of Depression:Following the Economic Curves and Crashes As the coronavirus sweeps across the country, spawning hotspots and chaos, it leaves in its wake a trail of economic destruction and ripples out to the most remote places, as yet untouched by the virus. Now that the economic shutdown is national and …
