Who can save the economy?

What more can the Fed do in the face of coronavirus?

A stock trader.
(Image credit: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)

The smartest insight and analysis, from all perspectives, rounded up from around the web:

Throw out the playbook, said Dennis Kelleher at MarketWatch. Saving the economy from ruin will require more than the tools used in the 2008 financial crisis. It's time to think about the coronavirus pandemic as "a CAT 5 hurricane" that may cause "nationwide destruction and cripple the financial system and the U.S. economy." Economists say that the epidemic could make 3 million jobs disappear by June. The crisis will require $1 trillion in spending to cover supply-chain shortages, health-care expenditures, and "the basic necessities for everyone who loses their job or income." The Federal Reserve is already doing "whatever it takes," said Neil Irwin at The New York Times. The central bank has slashed rates to zero, offered more generous terms at the "discount window" for banks to borrow, and pledged $700 billion in bond purchases. It's applying almost all "extraordinary policies used to combat the global financial crisis" in 2008. Instead of rolling them out over 16 months, "it announced versions of them in a single weekend." Yet the stock market continued to plummet early this week.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us