Ford School economics professor Betsey Stevenson says that rebuilding the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 recession will be painful, as massive changes in how business is done take effect. While that happens, she told ABC Australia's The Money podcast, the government needs to continue to put money in the economy, especially through cash payments, as happened with the CARES Act passed by Congress in March, 2020. "I am of the point of view that you throw a lot of money at the economy, you'll be in a better place."
Stevenson told Michigan Radio's Stateside program that the administration also needs to target those most affected by the economic downturn. "COVID has not only created greater inequality in the United States, but that increase in inequality is not going to go away when COVID does."
"The government reacted quite swiftly. But then it ran out of steam. We are not done with COVID; we are not done with the pain of it. This recession, unlike any I have ever seen, has hit people disproportionately at the bottom of income distribution. We really need to see more government support for folks that are out of savings that have really been struggling all year and it's got to be a concentrated effort to combat the increase in inequality that's been caused by COVID."
You can hear the interviews here:
Stateside, January 29 - The pandemic has been hard on women in the workforce, and it’s not getting better soon
ABC Australia, The Money podcast, January 28 - Biden’s economic plan