The Economy Through COVID-19

Before the Coronavirus hit the United States was doing very well economically, inflation was below the fed’s target and the unemployment rate was at a 50-year low.  However, when Covid-19 spread to the United States we had to shut down half of the U.S. and when that happened the GDP (gross domestic product) growth dropped 31.40%, these numbers have not been seen since 1920 (the great depression). The unemployment rate increased to some of the highest numbers in the United States has seen since the era after world war two, reaching 14.7% earlier this year.  Nearly 18 million Americans are out of jobs, that is 6.8 million more people out of jobs than there were at the beginning of this year.  

Congress took emergency action to address the horrific impact that covid-19 has had on the economy.  They created a three-phase legislative package that includes a $100 billion dollar paid-leave bill, 8.3 billion dollar spending bill, stimulus checks, and guaranteed paid loans to small businesses.  That package was and still is very important, it was necessary in the moment but now that things have calmed down a little people are starting to wonder what that decision has stolen from the future of the economy.  In an article from QZ the writer, Leo Hindery suggests another three-part plan.  “First, we need to bolster and empower the middle class,” Hindery wrote expressing the need for more supportive worker unions.  In Staten Island a worker in one of Amazon’s warehouses led a walkout because of covid related safety concerns.  Hindery thinks that we need better supporting worker unions, “. He should instead be applauded for potentially saving the lives of the people working in the warehouse.”  Next, invest in education and skills training to better educate the middle-class Americans that are the people driving our economy by creating tax relief for educators. Hindery expressed the need for tax relief by saying “Permanently providing federal income tax relief to teachers, expanding STEM education, and affording professional development resources are critical to restoring America’s human capital.”. Finally, lawmakers should not defund social security and retirement security, these have helped many low-income families and elder Americans stay stable throughout covid. “Lawmakers must help keep these programs solvent by eliminating the cap on wages subject to Social Security payroll taxes.”

Whether you accept the changes that have come because of the pandemic or not, we have a new reality that we need to adapt to.  Even though we have no idea what the future holds for our country, we need to start thinking about how the decisions we’re making will affect the future. This new reality has called for new measures to be taken. These stimulus packages should still be given out however, they are very necessary for the moment to help low-income families afloat.  It will be hard for our country to recover from this pandemic but we will, and we will do it together.