A top economist predicted that the coronavirus could cause the “mother of all financial crises.”
Kenneth S. Rogoff, a widely cited, leading economist at Harvard University, predicted that the novel coronavirus could trigger an economic crash, both in the United States and globally. “This is already shaping up as the deepest dive on record for the global economy for over 100 years,” Rogoff said.
“Everything depends on how long it lasts, but if this goes on for a long time, it’s certainly going to be the mother of all financial crises,” Rogoff said, who co-authored a comprehensive financial history book entitled This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.
Last week, Congress approved and Trump signed a $2.2 trillion spending bill, the third relief package designed to alleviate economic concerns of small businesses, large corporations, and individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. It allocates $500 billion in loans to large companies, $350 billion in forgivable loans, and provides $1,200 in direct cash payments to many U.S. citizens, among other items.
Before the historic relief package was passed last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers must begin drafting a fourth relief package to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the bill that was making its way through Congress was insufficient to address the needs of state and local governments, workers, and other entities affected by the spread of the virus.
On Tuesday, the president advocated for a $2 trillion addition to congressional economic relief bills designed to help workers and businesses during the pandemic, saying he hopes to increase employment through federal programs.
“With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4,” Trump tweeted.
Since COVID-19 was first reported in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average has precipitously fallen, plummeting from over 29,000 to approximately 20,900.
More than 911,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus globally. Of those, at least 45,000 have died from it, and more than 191,600 have recovered. The U.S. has seen at least 206,000 confirmed cases, with nearly 8,400 reported recoveries.
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