Business
The United States is dealing with an acute crisis, unique in our recent economy history. In order to address the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers and business leaders are bringing major elements of everyday life and commerce to a temporary halt. The US economy is almost certainly already in recession. The effects of the pandemic, including the public health response, will place enormous strain on many families and businesses. It will also pose a tremendous challenge to state and local governments, who will see demands for services spike just as revenues fall. Effectively confronting the public health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19 may demand Federal policy intervention into looming state and local budget shortfalls. Tracy Gordon (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/author/tracy-gordon), Senior Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, joins to discuss the risk COVID-19 poses for state and local budgets, what the Federal government is or should be doing about it, and what we have learned from the lessons of the Great Recession.