COVID-19 and the economic stimulus

Lara Lockridge - Sophomore, Staff Writer | Opinions

With all of the commotion around the coronavirus, many are wondering how they are going to make it through quarantine. With the need to pay bills and supply food for family there aren’t many options on how to make money besides selling unneeded objects, or attempting to get another job in a necessary industry such as food. This is why the government is attempting to send out stimulus packages to help with the new adjustments. Although this is good, many are not thinking about what this will do to our economy and how it will encourage some people to continue to not play a part.

With the government sending $1200 per adult adult and $500 per child in a household, many would think this would be great considering most nonessential businesses are being shut down. Even though this will help with initial costs of food and bills, this will damage our economy in the long run after everything has returned to normal. With the United States economic status plummeting, it is thought that we will be entering a new depression with the loss of business in the current months. During this time of lost business and the stimulus packages being sent out, many are thinking that the government can simply send out money to help cushion the loss of work, however they do not realize that this will cause the value of the dollar to go down.

In fact, many people are not in need of this package to begin with. Unemployment is giving an additional $600 to the average amount given to someone who has applied for it after losing their job due to the virus. These people are the ones in need opposed to those who did not work in the first place. Although there are many different circumstances, if someone is on disability or retirement money, they are already living off of the government and are not in need of additional money that could be used for more versatile usage. So during this time, it is important to think about what is necessary to spend money on, opposed to simply brushing this matter aside as a minor inconvenience.