The United States GDP has decreased at an alarming rate due to COVID-19. There has been extreme job loss and decreasing consumer confidence as the pandemic continues to remain a problem. GDP has decreased by 9.5% from the last quarter, which is cause for concern. The United State’s attempt to rebound has plateaued as unemployment claims continue to pass one million for over 19 week in a row due to Coronavirus. This is concerning because many hoped that this pandemic would be over by the summer; but it is continuously fueling consumer unease. If the government had not issued trillions of dollars in aid, the economy could have been in a substantially worse position. Government aid has helped many individuals and businesses push through these tough times and remain afloat. However, hesitation from congress to extend benefits could cause the U.S. to backtrack; spending and consumer confidence may be lost to reduced aid. These events come at an interesting time with the looming presidential election and I am curious to see how it affect voters. If there is a change in party, it will be interesting to see what changes happen in order to combat the rescission and enease of the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/business/economy/q2-gdp-coronavirus-economy.html
I think it'll be interesting as well because usually in this case, there should theoretically be a party change. However, these economic issues have for sure been caused by an outside source. The only thing is, will people judge Trump's reactions to the economy struggles or will people think it is caused by entirely outside sources?
ReplyDeleteI agree that Congress holding off on benefits could come back to hurt the economy. Many people are still out of a job due to the pandemic. Select businesses are doing well and others are just starting to recover but that doesn't mean that they have the budget to be hiring workers for positions they had to let go originally. Citizens are struggling to even pay the bills they owe on, so there is little chance that those people have any extra spending money outside of basic necessities. People do see the aid as a helpful tool to build their confidence back up, at least with their financial situation, which will eventually lead to a better overall state of the economy.
ReplyDeleteWith everything currently happening, it sort of seems like the US Government is on overload. I think how congress chooses to handle further aid will largely impact the election. Especially because of the lack of leadership we experienced that has resulted in the US battling the pandemic far longer than many other countries. This economic struggle might have been much shorter had we taken sufficient precautions earlier in the pandemic. However, "might" is a key word.
ReplyDelete