Jared Bernstein

We haven’t seen jobs numbers like these since FDR. And no matter what happens with COVID-19, this collapse will haunt an entire generation.

Get ready for factories testing workers for fevers as they show up, restaurants with tables far apart, colleges with rolling groups of students, and more.

Even if people get back to work in, say, two to three months, the jobless rate could peak between 15 and 20 percent.

Weeks with millions of layoffs will become the long-term norm if we end this lockdown early.

The central bank says it will do whatever it takes to keep credit flowing. But the government needs to lend directly to businesses and provide cash to workers, fast.

What remains to be seen is how committed political elites are to getting help to people who really need it.

We are up against one of the most potentially economically threatening events in our lifetimes, and it’s time for a robust, get-out-in-front initial response.

I’ve never turned a blind eye to the downsides of global trade. But this is NOT the way to make policy.

A balanced-budget amendment may be a convenient messaging tool. But it’s also terrible policy and a major fiscal threat.