In just the past two days, the idea that the federal government should simply give people money to help them through the coronavirus pandemic has been endorsed across the political spectrum—by Democratic senators like Sherrod Brown and Michael Bennet, Republican senators like Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton, just about every economist who worked for President Barack Obama, and finally, this afternoon, by President Donald Trump. There's a #ChecksChecksChecks hashtag on Twitter.
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At a time when Washington is bitterly polarized over almost everything—including other stimulus proposals that would target beleaguered industries or low-income workers—airlifting cash into American households is one of those rare concepts that almost every politician can embrace, even though it smacks of the big government liberalism that Republicans mock, even though every dollar gets added to the deficit.
Other things to check out:
9 Smart Money Moves to Make Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic
In fact, it is already likely feeling some pain. The only questions are to what degree and how much worse it will get.
Despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to keep pumping money into the economy to keep it afloat and the $1 trillion stimulus package being planned in Washington, recession at this point seems inevitable, say economists from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and many others.
It's never a good idea to panic, but it's certainly reasonable to be worried about the possible impact of the pandemic on your financial health as well as your physical well-being—and to prepare as much as you can for what lies ahead. Here's what you need to know and do now.
Surviving the coronavirus crash: 'You make most of your money in a bear market; you just
We are prepared for the possibility that every decision we make today will look wrong tomorrow, as we have no idea how long this market decline will continue. We are completely fine with that, as long as these decisions are proven right several years out.
Our investment focus zooms out from this or the next quarter — where our vision is fogged — to years ahead, where paradoxically we have a lot more clarity. It is easy to look at the current decline as a curse, but if we look a few years out, we can expect to see that this sell-off provided the opportunity to add to existing positions on the cheap and to add more high-quality but undervalued stocks to our portfolios.
U.S. Fed moves to ensure liquidity in money market mutual funds - Reuters
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve rolled out its third emergency credit program in two days to battle the fallout from the virus crisis, this one aimed at keeping the $3.8 trillion money market mutual fund industry functioning if investors make rapid withdrawals.
The Fed is in effect encouraging banks to buy assets from those mutual funds, insulating the funds from having to sell assets at a discount if they come under pressure from households or firms wanting to withdraw money.
Quite a lot has been going on:
The Government Wants to Send You Money—but How Soon Will It Arrive? - WSJ
WASHINGTON—Getting lump-sum payments into the hands of every American could take weeks to start and months to complete as the government tries to turn its tax-collection system into a money-distribution machine.
Congress is coalescing around the idea of sending money to individuals to ease the economic disruption from the coronavirus outbreak, and the Treasury Department wants to distribute cash as fast as possible, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Helicopter Money Is Here!
Finally, at long last, the market has forced the administration to do what it had to do: Send money to the people via a check in the mail, of course, assuming Congress approves this fiscal bazooka. The Treasury secretary announced this morning that he would propose a $1,000 check be given to every American: "Americans need cash now, and the President wants to give cash now, in the next two weeks." (Source: Bloomberg, White House Press Briefing March 17, 2020)
I wrote about this inevitable outcome in this forum multiple times last year, and after seeing the performance of a panicked Fed which did little to soothe markets, it became obvious at least to me last week that a direct-to-the-consumer check writing campaign was not too far behind. If the condition of the market does not scare you, just look at the picture I took last night at my neighborhood grocery chain – empty shelves everywhere!
Can the government print money to stimulate the economy? - Marketplace
The Senate passed the House relief bill Wednesday, an $8.5 billion package. Stimulus is coming, it’s just a question of when. And how the government is going to pay for it.
A lot of people could use that stimulus right now. Sam Gold is a photographer in New York, where the city is all but on lockdown. Things are not going well.
“All of the shoots basically from today on have [been] completely cancelled or postponed,” Gold said. “I went from having a fully booked calendar for March and April to, now, nothing.”
Trump tells people out of work over coronavirus that 'money will soon be coming to you' | Fox News
Administration officials hope to convince congressional Republicans to pony up hundreds of billions of dollars to keep businesses and taxpayers afloat; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports.
President Trump , in an attempt to calm the thousands of Americans who have applied for unemployment or have been furloughed due to the spread of coronavirus, said Wednesday that “ money will soon be coming to you,” while stressing that the virus outbreak is not the “fault” of workers.
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