, Columnist
Stimulus Spending Might Do Nothing But Add More Debt
Stop obsessing about inflation and consider a more likely scenario.
What if it doesn’t do anything?
Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
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President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority goes by two names: “Covid relief” and “stimulus.” The two terms help reporters and politicians avoid repetition, but they also point to the two main purposes the bill is supposed to serve.
It would, among other things, send $1,400 checks to most households. That can be defended as relief: It helps people who have been harmed by the economic fallout of the pandemic. It can also be defended as a stimulus: Recipients will spend some of the money, and their purchases will boost the economy.