Five Ideas That Do Nothing for the Pandemic Economy
Both Republicans and Democrats peddle programs that do little but distract from the enormous task at hand.
There’s plenty of space here for all the bad ideas.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North AmericaThere’s no shortage of good ideas for dealing with the economic fallout from the coronavirus shutdowns. Some of the best include helping companies to keep workers in their jobs, paying for coronavirus testing and treatment, bailing out state governments and having the Federal Reserve lend cheaply to businesses. But sometimes, leaders can become fixated on mediocre policies instead. These don’t necessarily cause the economy additional harm, but they can distract from doing the things that really need to be done and become symbolic flashpoints for partisan debate. Here are a five ideas that are being thrown around that should be quickly and quietly shelved.
No. 1. Capital gains tax cuts