Update 451: COVID’s Summer Hot SpotsArgue for Targeted, Automatic Relief Fix No economic relief or bill, regardless of size, will be scrupulously equitable as regards state, sector, class, generation, etc. Nor would equity on every basis be optimal in all circumstances. Today, Montana and Vermont are both marginally affected by the Coronavirus. Should relief for …
Update 450 — Additional Testing Required:What to Expect from the Fed’s Stress Tests In a month, we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Dodd-Frank Act, which codified annual Federal Reserve stress testing of major financial institutions to see if they can withstand various hypothetical macroeconomic hardships. No one contemplated COVID then, …
Update 449: Jobless Forecast: Deep Stasis,Out of the Free Fall, into a Long-Haul Stall The collective sigh of relief from workers and business owners seeing the 13.3 percent national unemployment figure for May may have come too soon. The figure is, at best, misleading. A 1.4 percent drop in unemployment, the best month-over-month figures since …
Update 448 — Fed Confronts COVID SurgeComplicating Policy Calculus for Congress Fourteen states — including California, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina — all in some phase of reopening, set single-day records this month for new coronavirus cases. A statistical error in the BLS unemployment rate understating the true figure by three percent in May will …
Update 447 — The Ballot is on the Ballot:What Georgia Means for Voters in November Scenes this week of the long voter lines in urban Georgia in the face of COVID, machine malfunctions, and state suppression remind us that the ballot itself is on the ballot in November. We bring visions, or memories, of democracy …
Update 446 — PPP Poked, Probed, Prodded:How Many Paychecks Have Been Protected? The administration’s $700 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) represents the only federal effort to protect wages threatened by the Corona crisis. Congress enacted some tweaks to PPP last week that will save some small businesses but protect fewer paychecks. PPP can help some …
Update 445 — 2020 Cong. Endorsements:June Primary Winners in IA, IN, MD, MT, NM, PA We are delighted to present the next round of 20/20 Vision’s endorsements for the 117th Congress. Today, we feature nominees for the U.S. Senate from Iowa, Montana, and New Mexico and for selected House seats in those states as well …
Update 444 — A Startling Statistic to OpenThe Summer of Our Legitimate Discontent On Friday morning, Americans will confront the statistical reality of the coronavirus’ impact on jobs. If you wonder what 20 percent unemployment feels like, this is it. If it takes some getting used to, we all will have that chance — a …
Update 443: The COVID Economic Experiencefor Workers, Consumers, Employers, Investors Your economic experience of the impact of the coronavirus will reflect your role in the economy. Are you an “essential worker”? Can you work from home? Can you find the necessities of life as easily or cheaply as before? Are you buying scarce or rationed …
Update 442 — A Tale of Two Economies:Market Correction v. Employment Collapse This week, we compare the impact of the Corona pandemic on the U.S. capital markets and on the real economy of wages and workers. The major indices — DJIA, S&P, NASDAQ — are down less than ten percent this year with gains over …
