As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak economic havoc among lower-income families, the debate around further stimulus measures have continued to grow more heated. They have proven vital in boosting consumer spending power and spurring economic activity in sectors that have been hardest hit be the pandemic. In order for a stimulus to have the greatest impact relative to long-term cost, it must be well-timed and implemented efficiently. Before we continue, there is a much-needed comparison to be made between the stimulus checks of 2020 vs those of 2008.

A study from McKinsey & Company suggests that the total stimulus for the Covid-19 crisis is already triple that for the entire 2008-09 recession. Governments have allocated $10 trillion for economic stimulus, leading some fiscal hawks to raise alarms over rising debt as a proportion of GDP. While this argument does have some credence regarding targeted support and effective implementation, the urgency for economic support measures outweighs the cost in the long term.

One of the most pressing priorities of Senate Majourity Leader Chuck Schumer’s is providing Americans with $2000 dollar stimulus checks in order to support the economic recovery outlined earlier in this article. A sufficiently sizeable stimulus would be a lifeline to a rapidly deteriorating economy, providing support to the 12 million renters in the USA who have fallen behind on rental payments.

The reallocation effect stemming from stimulus measures would be a method of offsetting much of the increase in inequalities through the course of the pandemic. However, while direct assistance would buy valuable time, it would not serve as a permanent solution to the concurrent crises and harsh inequalities that the pandemic has sharpened. Ernie Tedeschi, an economist at Evercore and former Treasury official, recently said regarding previous stimulus measures ‘the US needs an economic lifeline lasting around 9 months to get comfortably to wide vaccine distribution. This is more like 2-3 months of lifeline’.

In conclusion, time is quickly running out for consumers and businesses alike to receive much-needed support. This is not a question of left or right, it is a question of survival.