The coronavirus pandemic has opened some gaping holes in our nation’s social safety net, especially where hunger and malnutrition are concerned. Millions of low-income workers have lost their jobs (and will soon lose expanded unemployment benefits if Congress fails to extend them) and millions of children in low-income families have lost access to school meals…
Publications
The federal government is on track to run a record-shattering $4 trillion budget deficit in 2020, in large part due to its aggressive fiscal response to the pandemic-induced recession. Some on the right have raised alarm about this borrowing, despite their support for budget-busting tax cut and border-control policies over the last three years. The…
Millions of America’s smallest businesses have been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. They’ve seen revenue evaporate and have been forced to lay off millions of workers. Over two million small businesses had simply disappeared by June 2020. The U.S. economy now finds itself in a deep hole, with millions of small businesses gone for…
Press
Conservatives call the House Democrats’ Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act a “gigantic political scam.” Senate Republicans say HEROES, passed by the House on May 15th, is “dead on arrival when it reconvenes. As they negotiate with Democrats, Republicans should think carefully about certain student loan relief provisions in the bill. Even in good times, a…
The U.S. House of Representatives is moving ahead with plans to vote today on the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act: the fifth – and potentially final – piece of major legislation addressing the coronavirus pandemic and its economic effects. The 1800-page bill is estimated to cost roughly $3 trillion and contains a mix…
Projections published today by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office confirm that the federal government is on course to spend $1 trillion more than it raises in revenue in Fiscal Year 2020. Trillion-dollar deficits continue as far as the eye can see, with CBO estimating a 10-year deficit of over $13 trillion. Legislative changes since August have increased…
Blog
While House Democrats and Senate Republicans remain at an impasse over how generous unemployment benefits should be in the current recession, a potentially greater problem is looming: millions of unemployed Americans will see their benefits terminated prematurely unless Congress takes additional action in the next three months. What’s more, many workers are forced to clear…
The outbreak of COVID-19 (commonly known as coronavirus) has created a global market downturn and raised the prospect that the United States could enter its first recession since the 2008 financial crisis. Last night, President Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered two competing approaches for securing both the health and economic security…
The Director of PPI’s Center for Funding America’s Future, Ben Ritz, joined personal-finance advisor Ric Edelman on his nationally syndicated radio show to discuss the challenges facing Social Security, their role in the 2020 election, and PPI's proposal to strengthen the program for future generations. Listen to the interview below and read our full plan…
