Summer is normally a time when Americans look forward to taking a vacation. In the pandemic summer of 2020, however, many of us probably would like nothing better than to get back to work. Since the coronavirus reached our shores, tens of millions of Americans have been laid off or furloughed. Many others have had…
Publications
This piece is part of our Building American Resilience Series. Resilience is the ability to react quickly to unexpected events. Market economies are inherently resilient because they are decentralized. But by outsourcing too much production to the rest of the world, the U.S. has traded much of its flexibility and resilience for somewhat lower short-run…
For Americans and much of the world, 2020 has been an annus horribilis. Following its outbreak in China late last year, the coronavirus has spread quickly across the main international travel and trade routes. To contain the pandemic, nations have been forced to order mass quarantines, freezing economic activity and social life. It likely will…
Press
A slice of bread is good, but a whole loaf is better. In the spring, Senator Mike Braun of Indiana introduced the Helping Gig Economy Workers Act to shield digital companies from lawsuits on worker classification when providing protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. This legal “safe harbor” for such digital companies could find its…
At the end of next month, several economic support programs created by the CARES Act in March will expire. House Democrats have moved to extend and expand these supports through January 2021 with the $3 trillion HEROES Act. Senate Republicans, however, have used fiscal cost as a pretext to oppose or scale back this and other potential future…
With partisan divisions as deep as ever, both sides can agree on one thing: Everybody wants to avoid another financial crisis. And forecasters have recently identified subprime auto loans as an existential threat to the economy. The headlines are eye-catching and scary: “A $45,000 Loan for a $27,000 Ride: More Borrowers Are Going Underwater on…
Blog
Consumers are getting turned down for all sorts of financial products, from personal and auto loans to credit cards. The Wall Street Journal, using Equifax data, reports that credit card approvals totaled 483,000 in the week ending May 10, down from 856,000 in the week ending March 22. To compare to the year prior, weekly…
Two bills introduced in Congress, H.R. 6370 and S. 3508, ‘‘Disaster Protection for Workers’ Credit Act of 2020’’ would impose a moratorium on credit reporting of “adverse information” for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. Credit scores are an integral part of the consumer credit underwriting process as their power to predict the likelihood of…
As Congress passes its historic multi-trillion spending package, people across the country, as well as investors in our beleaguered financial markets, will breathe a sigh of relief. But the truth is, this “Phase 3” response to the pandemic-induced economic shutdown may just be the beginning of what we need to avert a savage recession or…
