I’m struck by how many headlines this weekend talking about the economy as though we were in the midst of a natural disaster. We aren’t. 1/n
As we know, the Trump administration knew back in January that we were facing a likely pandemic with “severe” disruptions 2/n
B/c this is a novel virus that humans don’t have immunity to & b/c it transmits before, during, & after the person has symptoms (which in some are very mild), it’s not just contagious but unknowingly passed on 3/n
For the benefit of humanity & b/c our hospital systems aren’t equipped to see so many patients with a lung disease all at the same time, policymakers have turned off many parts of our economy 4/n
The questions we should be asking are: (1) Having shut down the economy for the good of humanity, what are our policymakers doing to ensure people are whole & have access to healthcare, food, a roof over their head while the economy is offline? 5/n
Today’s negotiations will tell us a great deal about what Congress will do. I’m watching the following: does the package includes unemployment benefits for all affected at high wage replacement (I’d suggest 100% for the time being) … 6/n
… paid sick leave for all so that no one fears losing a job/paycheck b/c they are doing the right thing by staying home when sick, cash, reprieve on debts due during the crisis, & aid to the states facing sharp falls in revenue when they need to ramp up services … 7/n
… ensure that these supports all stay on until the crisis abates – we’ve long argued that the federal government should put in place triggers so that programs that support people & communities in recessions stay on as long as necessary equitablegrowth.org/recession-read… … 8/n
… & support for all the medium & small businesses who need to be able to shut their doors now but open back up once the health crisis has passed, including a moratorium on evictions & foreclosures? 9/n
Question (2): What are policymakers doing to ensure that once the crisis is over, the economy can quickly & easily come turn back on? 10/n
Are they making it easy for firms to call their employees back to work? Are they making it possible for small businesses to weather “social distancing” & shutdowns without facing bankruptcy? 11/n
I’m seeing a lot of people talking as though the recession is something happening to us; it’s not. For the good of our health, the economy is being put on hold. That’s the right thing to do. But we need to know now how policymakers plan to turn the economy back on 12/n
We should be encouraging firms to furlough employees rather than lay them off so that they can come back to work once the health crisis has passed 13/n
We should be finding ways to give medium & small businesses the support they need now to shutter their doors—esp all those restaurants & services that have been told to close down—with the confidence that we’ll help them reopen 14/n
Question (3) How will we know when the economy can get back up & running? Are we waiting for free tests for everyone? For paid sick days for all? For new cases to fall down to zero? 15/n
I have no idea what the right answers are here (except that I know we need paid sick days for all). Health experts: please tell us when you’ll feel comfortable telling us we can get back to work--what metrics are you watching? 16/n
The economy cannot turn back on full throttle until we can stop social distancing. Let’s keep top of mind that it’s the federal government’s job to prepare for such a crisis, communicate about what they are doing, and help us all through it until we can get back to work 17/n
Having asked so many to sacrifice their corner of the economy for the good of humanity, what is our society going to compensate those who lose the most from this economic sacrifice? Every shuttered store, every worker at home is a national hero--how will we honor them? 18/n
