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 …
Update 429: Legislating Against a Viral Target;Americans Watch as Congress Gropes for a Plan The raging coronavirus, vast economic contraction, enormous open-ended stimulus spending, botched relief rollouts, system crashes, and a cacophony of partridges in the pear tree combine to confirm Americans’ impression that those in charge do not have a comprehensive economic plan. Corona …
Update 428: Corona III Programs in Need of RxImplementation Snafus and Consequences Following the grim vital statistics wrought by the coronavirus are numbers revealing a secondary affliction reaching millions more. Every day brings news of another round of tens of thousands of layoffs, furloughs, shift cuts, even wage cuts. The federal fiscal responses to the …
Update 427: Corona 3 Implementation StartsMoney Out When? Stimulating a Dead Horse? The incredible shrinking and increasingly virtual U.S. economy is being transformed by the coronavirus into something we have never seen before and increasingly hard to spot. Ten million jobs have vanished in under two weeks and the famous flattening of the curve is …
Update 426: New Economic Misery Index;Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Out Tomorrow With the nation bracing for more bad news tomorrow, the sense in Congress is that the historic $2 trillion Corona III won’t be enough. Indeed, talks (over the phone) are already in progress on a fourth Corona bill. We hear some talk of a …
Update 425— Longest U.S. Expansion Ever in Jeopardy; 3.28 Million Newly Jobless Overnight The ink is now dry on the $2 trillion Corona III relief package, as the House has figured out how to conduct a voice vote on the massive bill today, with almost all members in their home districts, some opposed to it, …
