The first vaccines against Covid-19 were administered to the American population on Monday, December 14, but this progress will not be enough to avoid a trying winter, in a country which has crossed the threshold of 300,000 deaths. There is an emergency, and the United States Congress is still blocked. Republicans and Democrats are constantly negotiating a new plan to support the economy in the amount of 908 billion dollars (747 billion euros), or 4.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
They have to vote it before Christmas to avoid a social crisis in January. The United States is now in a “normal” recession (it should have reached 3.5% of GDP in 2020), with an unemployment rate falling from 14.7% to 6.7%. However, half of the 22 million jobs destroyed in March-April have not been recreated. Many deletions have become final. Policymakers seek to avoid the mistake of the 2008 financial crisis, when the economy was not strong enough, for fear of reviving inflation and causing deficits to grow.
The first objective is social: to distribute money to households. The exceptional monthly unemployment benefit of $ 2,400 expired at the end of July. Democrats and Republicans are expected to agree to a cut in half for four months. These funds must make it possible to avoid human tragedies, while rental evictions are supposed to resume on 1er January 2021. They have been suspended for tenants in financial difficulty.
155,000 eviction files
According to Wall Street Journal, between 2.5 million and 5 million Americans are at risk of being evicted – the usual annual rate is 900,000. Rent arrears reach $ 70 billion, according to Moody’s. The owners have already filed in court more than 155,000 eviction cases. One-third of black renters, 18% of Latinos and 12% of whites said they were behind on rent. It is possible that the federal state will extend this moratorium again.
The second target is businesses, particularly SMEs and healthcare companies, which should receive respectively $ 300 billion and $ 45 billion in aid. In total, the planned sums, which include food aid and the funds necessary for the administration of the vaccine against the Covid-19, reach 748 billion dollars. The direct payment of checks to American households, as was the case in the spring and as claimed in vain by the socialist senator of Vermont Bernie Sanders, is not planned for the moment.
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