It can’t hurt to go ahead and send out checks. But that probably shouldn’t be our only—or even our primary—economic response.
showed that support for $1,000 cash payments to Americans has skyrocketed since early March, with 58 percent of the country now in favor.
But is an influx of cash actually the best way to cushion workers from what seems likely to be the most dramatic shock in recent memory? The consensus, based on my conversations with almost a dozen economic experts, is that it can’t hurt to go ahead and send out checks. But that probably shouldn’t be our only — or even our primary — economic response. There are preexisting systems, like unemployment insurance programs, that can quickly get money to the people who are losing their jobs.
“Right now, the risk of overreach is negligible and the risk of doing too little is very high,” said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, the co-director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. “So stimulus checks should really just be one part of a much broader effort to help the tens of millions of people who are going to be hurt economically by this pandemic.”Republican Sen.
the value of sending out a slew of payments over a more targeted approach. “I personally think that if we are going to help people, we ought to direct the cash payments maybe as a supplement to unemployment, not to the people that are still working every day,” Shelby said. Extra funding for the unemployment system is one of the optionsHe had a surprising amount of company among some of the left-leaning experts I spoke with, who said the unemployment insurance system needs a lot of help.
Shoring up the unemployment insurance system came up in almost every conversation I had. And that’s because the system is already threatening to buckle as the number of people applying for unemployment benefits spikes. According to the Department of Labor, new filings for job lossesfor the week ending on March 14. And that data doesn’t even cover last week, when businesses across the country temporarily shuttered and a tidal wave of layoffs followed.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Coronavirus live updates: Medical aid for 3 states as US death tolls hits 417; stimulus, checks hit snag; Utah Rep. Ben McAdams hospitalizedThe proposed stimulus package sending $1,200 checks to most adults amid the coronvirus crisis hit a snag. Here are the latest updates on the pandemic.
Read more »
Coronavirus live updates: Stimulus, $1,200 checks hit snag; NYC mayor says worst yet to come; Sen. Rand Paul tests positiveNew York Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the coronavirus crisis 'is going to get a lot worse.' Here are the latest updates on the pandemic.
Read more »
Coronavirus live updates: Medical aid for 3 states as US death tolls hits 417; stimulus, checks hit snag; Utah Rep. Ben McAdams hospitalizedThe U.S., which had confirmed more than 33,000 cases and 417 deaths as of Sunday evening, overtook Spain and now trails only Italy and China in reported infections.
Read more »
Rapper 50 Cent Urges You to Work Out During Quarantine“A lot of people are not making adjustments, so they’re just going to sit home and they’re going to get fat. They’ll get fat.”
Read more »