The global pandemic that is the coronavirus or COVID-19 is taking a toll on both public health and the economy of the countries that are affected. As the United States economy is struggling, economic advisors of both the Bush and Obama administrations weighed in on a possible measure to keep the economy afloat during the crisis.
Politicalflare reports that Greg Mankiw, who served as an economic advisor to President George W. Bush and as an advisor to Senator Mitt Romney during his presidential campaign, voiced his support for the economic stimulus suggested by Jason Furman, who served as an economic advisor to President Barack Obama. The stimulus in question involved paying every American adult $1,000, and possibly paying another $1,000 to American adults the following month if the pandemic continues.
This suggestion was formally backed by Senator Mitt Romney, who explained that this would “ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy.”
This measure would enable more spending, which would then ensure that money is circulating and producing more money in the process. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in many Americans unable to work which then results in less spending leading to market losses.
Users on social media also had their own suggestions as to how this could be implemented. One user suggested that the amount that the government pays should be based on the person’s household income. The user then cited an example of which if the citizen has a household income of $50,000 or less, then $2,000 would be paid to them and so on.
The details of Furman’s proposal further reveals that $1,000 be paid by Congress to a United States citizen or a taxpaying United States resident, and $500 to children who also meet the same criteria. The proposal also stipulates that the payments would continue until 2021 and even beyond if the rate of unemployment goes up to 5.5 percent or higher.
This would also include an extension of unemployment insurance as well as increased Medicaid matching, which would be passed pre-emptively so as to trigger automatically in the states where there is a high unemployment rate.