Tag: economic relief bills

The Bailout Is Working — For The Very Rich

Ten weeks into the worst crisis in 90 years, the government’s effort to save the economy has been both a spectacular success and a catastrophic failure.

The clearest illustration of that came on Friday, when the government reported that 20.5 million people lost their jobs in April. It marked a period of unfathomable pain across the country not seen since the Great Depression. Also on Friday, the stock market rallied.

The S&P 500 is now up 30 percent from its lows in mid-March and back to where it was last October, when the outlook for 2020 corporate earnings looked sunshiny. Companies have sold record amounts of debtin recent weeks for investment-grade companies. Junk bonds, historically dodgy during an economic swoon, have roared back. Continue reading.

McConnell’s rejection of federal aid for states risks causing a depression, analysts say

Washington Post logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would rather see states declare bankruptcythan give them federal aid to deal with the economic collapse triggered by the coronaviruspandemic.

That’s a recipe for turning a potentially short recession into a prolonged depression, according to officials and analysts.

The question of whether Congress and the White House should provide relief funding to state and local governments — as the feds have done already for private business — is about to reach a showdown in Washington. Continue reading.