The federal government *CAN* help the economy recover and ensure that recovery is broad-based and equitable. @equitablegrowth's @dsmitch28 lists 21 actionable policy recommendations to combat the #coronavirus #recession 👇equitablegrowth.org/twenty-one-pol… (1/x)
1. We need #UnemploymentBenefits! UI helps workers weather an economic crisis while keeping demand for goods and services from plummeting. The emphasis on work disincentives reflects racist biases against low-income workers of color. equitablegrowth.org/factsheet-unem… (2/x)
2. We need to make #UnemploymentBenefits better, by addressing structural flaws in the system, as @alixgouldwerth writes: equitablegrowth.org/fool-me-once-i… (3/x) 
3. In @equitablegrowth + @hamiltonproj's book #RecessionReady, @gchodorowreich (@harvardecon) and John Coglianese (@federalreserve) proposed several evidence-based reforms to unemployment insurance. equitablegrowth.org/coronavirus-re… (4/x)
4. Parents, particularly working mothers, are in crisis. Providers are in crisis. Policymakers need to take bold action to ensure that #childcare is accessible and affordable, and high-quality research must help target the policy response. equitablegrowth.org/child-care-is-… (5/x)
5. It will take a *wartime-level* of commitment for essential workers to get the #childcare they need, writes @Sam_C_Abbott equitablegrowth.org/the-coronaviru… #parentinginapandemic (6/x)
6. Due to economic inequality, low-wage workers were suffering before the #covidcrisis, and they—and their
families—are suffering even more now. They need help in getting the supports they need (cc: @alixgouldwerth + @Raksha_Kopparam) equitablegrowth.org/how-the-corona… (7/x)
families—are suffering even more now. They need help in getting the supports they need (cc: @alixgouldwerth + @Raksha_Kopparam) equitablegrowth.org/how-the-corona… (7/x)
7. The federal government can learn from state #paidleave programs. In RI and CA, workers were able to access paid leave benefits sooner and for a wider variety of reasons than their peers in states without paid leave social insurance programs. #coronaviruscrisis (8/x)
8. We need a federal paid family leave policy. The U.S. remains one of only a few countries in the world without any such policy and the *only* high-income country without one, as @maya_rossin and @JennaEStearns wrote equitablegrowth.org/the-economic-i… (9/x)
9. Policymakers should consider implementing improvements to the #paycheckprotectionprogram to help small businesses, particularly short-term compensation arrangements but also more modest measures, suggests @amandalfischer (10/x) equitablegrowth.org/did-the-payche…
10. The research points to policymaker response as key to prevent small businesses, consumers, and workers from suffering even more due to rising concentration and consolidation by big firms (cc: @amandalfischer) equitablegrowth.org/rescuing-small… #CARESAct (11/x)
11. The #restaurant industry, in particular, needs federal assistance: It consists mostly of small businesses and is disproportionately composed of low-wage workers, writes @TBillTheProf for @equitablegrowth equitablegrowth.org/more-resilient… #paycheckprotectionprogram (12/x)
12. Any economic policy should be constructed within a broader, feminist framework of human well-being and justice, argue @LipstickEcon, @DrJenCohen, & @YanaRodgers equitablegrowth.org/a-feminist-eco… #feministrecovery (13/x)
13. While the #CARESact places federal student loans in forbearance, it doesn't go far enough. We should cancel it entirely as an important step toward reducing racial and economic inequality in the U.S. (cc: @DarrickHamilton & @nzewde) equitablegrowth.org/the-coronaviru… (14/x)
14. Policymakers need to take action on *structural* solutions centered around racial & economic equity. Two recent congressional reports, as @lizhipple summarizes, show that Black Americans are disproportionately contracting and dying of #COVID19. equitablegrowth.org/new-congressio… (15/x)
15. #Coronavirus and #ClimateChange are linked. U.S. policymakers could power an economic rebound and prepare to meaningfully address climate change by investing stimulus funds in the renewable energy sector —@leahstokes and @mmildenberger equitablegrowth.org/green-stimulus… (16/x)
16. Americans WANT Congress to lead the way with green stimulus that will promote broader adoption of clean energy and create good jobs, find @ParrishB, @mmildenberger, and @leahstokes equitablegrowth.org/americans-want… #recession (17/x)
17. It's far from reality that we're all in this together, and policymakers shouldn't look at the data as such, writes @AustinClemens2. Black & Latinx Americans are more physically exposed + more at risk of catching and dying from #COVID19 equitablegrowth.org/the-coronaviru… #GDPv2 (18/x)
18. Policymakers must have disaggregated data to create policies that will address these underlying economic and health disparities, @AustinClemens2 points out. New stats from @BEA_News provide that picture: equitablegrowth.org/data-will-prov… #GDPv2 (19/x)
19. As @gregleiserson explains, nobody knows for sure how long the #coronavirus #recession will last or exactly how severe it will be. What we do know: Automatic stabilizers play a critical role in fighting every recession (set it up, Congress!). equitablegrowth.org/the-coronaviru… (20/x)
20. Research from Raj Chetty et al. @OppInsights finds that investing in social insurance programs, e.g., #CARESAct, is the best way to mitigate economic suffering during the recession, NOT stimulus measures targeted toward businesses or the rich equitablegrowth.org/new-research-f… (21/x)
21. But our programs are only as effective as the plumbing we use to distribute those resources in a timely and equitable manner equitablegrowth.org/broken-plumbin… #CoronavirusPandemic (22/x)
Bottom line: Policymakers must invest in our economic infrastructure if our economy is to emerge from the #COVIDcrisis more resilient, stress @alixgouldwerth and @amandalfischer in their @equitablegrowth issue brief equitablegrowth.org/broken-plumbin… /END
