All the talk of debt holidays and rent deferrals; it sounds nice but it's not going to work. Those liabilities will just be piled up, waiting to be paid when this is over; but they won't be payable. The only solution is to *cancel* debts and rents for the affected months.
Anyone who loses their job should have rents and debts cancelled for the affected months. A basic income alone isn't going to work (even though I support the idea in general), because it will just be used for rents and debts: in other words, it will go straight to the wealthy.
So the basic income approach effectively bails out wealthy people who own debts and rental properties - exactly the people that can most afford to weather this crisis. They are the ones who should take the hit. That's what debt/rent cancellation would do.
Of course, people who lose their jobs will also need cash payments to cover other expenses. That's where a basic income could be powerful. And it should be funded by a tax on wealth.
The same goes for small businesses. Rent and debt deferrals are not enough. They will *still* go bankrupt when this is all over, and their market share will be gobbled up by big corporations. They need rent/debt cancellation for the affected months, otherwise they're finished.
By the way, the markets *know* this is going to happen. Long term interest rates (including 30 year) have collapsed to zero. Why? Because traders are predicting that there will not be a recovery for a *whole generation*.
I should add: the same should hold for any govt bailout of large companies. The govt should take ownership of the equity, but force the companies' creditors to take a big haircut. Similar to what would happen in a private takeover. Otherwise it's a taxpayer handout to creditors.
