To help reduce the financial pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney is advocating for the idea of providing each adult in the U.S. with $1,000. The idea surfaced as Congress and the White House are working to reach a deal on stimulus actions to keep the emerging economic crisis under control, CNBC reported.
Service industry laborers are largely impacted as municipalities mandate that eateries restrict their volume or shutter, while air carriers call off travel. At the same time, the closing of educational institutions is forcing parents to remain in their residences with younger children.
When a journalist asked the National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on Monday (March 16) if the White House would support offering a cash subsidy to U.S. households, Kudlow hesitated and then said, “we might.” Then, he followed up with, “the answer: ‘could be.’”
The idea of stimulus checks is not entirely new. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal earlier in March, Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard University, put forward the idea of providing each taxpaying citizen or resident with a $1,000 stimulus, plus $500 for each child.
“While expansions of paid leave, unemployment insurance and SNAP benefits are crucial, the check will help fill the gaps for Americans that may not quickly navigate different government options,” Romney said, per the report.
Markets continued to plummet on Monday (March 16), even with an announcement that the Fed would start a large $700 billion quantitative easing effort and reduce its benchmark rate to almost zero.
The Fed said in a statement on Sunday (March 15), “The coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States. Global financial conditions have also been significantly affected.”
The Fed reduced rates by half a percentage point in early March, which was said to be the first emergency rate reduction as of the financial crisis.
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