Fed's Kashkari suggests 4-6 week shutdown; says U.S. Congress can spend big on coronavirus relief
A quote from the above article:
"The economy, which in the second quarter suffered its biggest blow since the Great Depression, would be able to mount a robust recovery, but only if the virus were brought under control, Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“If we don’t do that and we just have this raging virus spreading throughout the country with flare-ups and local lockdowns for the next year or two, which is entirely possible, we’re going to see many, many more business bankruptcies,” Kashkari said.
“That’s going to be a much slower recovery for all of us.”
He said Congress is positioned to spend big on coronavirus relief efforts because the nation’s budget gap can be financed without relying on foreign borrowing, given how much Americans are saving.
“Those of us who are fortunate enough to still have our jobs, we’re saving a lot more money because we’re not going to restaurants or movie theaters or vacations,” Kashkari said."
I do know that the current stalemate in Congress with the debate raging about what should be included in the next phase of the coronavirus spending proposal is putting the economy and people's lives "in neutral or reverse." The Republican controlled Senate had hoped that by July/August the economy and virus news would be better and a second stimulus/bailout would not be needed. They were wrong and the delay in coming to terms with reality has put everyone in the mess we are in now.
Certainly we'll see many more layoffs coming from the government sector as cities/counties/states shed employees if no relief comes to state and local governments.
Emergency management directors should be considering their options now.
