Steve Mnuchin has a typical Keynesian rationale for focusing on payments to everyone, instead of small businesses and the unemployed: sending checks to taxpayers will pump money into the economy, which will create jobs, which will benefit everyone. Is he right?
No, because this isn’t a typical recession. Americans in lockdown aren’t going to spend money in restaurants; they will either save it or send it to Amazon. Neither response does anything to help local small businesses or the unemployed, unless they want to change jobs and drive for Jeff Bezos. Republicans and Democrats alike should agree that making Amazon and Walmart even bigger and driving up asset prices to an even higher level isn’t a proper solution to a temporary problem.