Top Up This Small-Business Rescue Fund Now
The Paycheck Protection Program is critical to battling Covid-19’s impact on public and economic health.
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Photographer: William Campbell/Corbis/Getty Images
The U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program provides forgivable loans to small businesses, mainly to pay their employees during the current sudden stop. News that it has run out of money is more than a big setback to the well-being of the economy. It’s also a serious health obstruction and, unlike many related concerns, one that can and should be addressed quickly.
One of the main risks of the coronavirus-mandated lockdown is forcing a no-win choice on otherwise-viable businesses: Continue paying staff and, if the lockdown lasts too long, run out of cash and go under; or, let employees go and impose more pain and suffering on them, break long-established social compacts, and contribute to the wider sense of insecurity.