Economic distress could be solved by improvements to the rescue package (The USA is currently able to borrow money at about 1% interest rate over 20-year terms, which is a negative interest rate when accounting for future inflation). Individual workers are already eligible for $600/week of unemployment bonus through July 25 as long as their business doesn’t re-open, for many of them their economic situation is actually better if we waited two months to reopen as they get paid more than they would working their job.
Unfortunately some businesses like restaurants are being poorly served by the PPP and treasury department regulations that don’t allow them to pay enough out of PPP to pay rent in higher-rent locations.
That could be changed, but the Federal government is counting and planning on economic pain to force states to reopen too fast instead, without tests or other measures in place that could reasonably be expected to cap or reduce new virus cases. It’s a very short-sighted plan.
Economic distress could be solved by improvements to the rescue package (The USA is currently able to borrow money at about 1% interest rate over 20-year terms, which is a negative interest rate when accounting for future inflation). Individual workers are already eligible for $600/week of unemployment bonus through July 25 as long as their business doesn’t re-open, for many of them their economic situation is actually better if we waited two months to reopen as they get paid more than they would working their job.
Unfortunately some businesses like restaurants are being poorly served by the PPP and treasury department regulations that don’t allow them to pay enough out of PPP to pay rent in higher-rent locations.
That could be changed, but the Federal government is counting and planning on economic pain to force states to reopen too fast instead, without tests or other measures in place that could reasonably be expected to cap or reduce new virus cases. It’s a very short-sighted plan.