Working people, small businesses and local governments need more income now, or other dominoes will fall
by Rex Nutting
Market Watch
Now that businesses are reopening and calling back furloughed workers, the COVID-19 recession may already be over. The depression has barely begun.
The economy is growing again, but, with 2 million people filing for unemployment checks last week and about 30 million workers already on the dole, it’s still struggling mightily.
There’s no official definition of a depression. Still, today’s economy seems to be a close fit: Millions of workers are losing their jobs permanently. Thousands of small businesses are closed permanently or operating at only a fraction of profitable levels. Debts are mounting, and incomes are not growing fast enough. State and local governments are slashing jobs and services. And only massive, but temporary, federal support prevents millions of families from falling into poverty.
It’s no time to declare Mission Accomplished.