, Columnists
Are the Coronavirus Bailouts Working? What We Know So Far
If the crisis persists, Congress, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve may have to rewrite their playbooks.
Updating Congress on a challenging bailout effort.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis is the first of two columns.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are presiding over the most massive economic bailout in U.S. history, a Herculean effort to blunt the impact of the coronavirus by buttressing workers and families, businesses and credit markets, the health care and education systems, and state and local governments with at least $5.7 trillion in public funds and guarantees.