From Opinion: How to save the economy

Not too long ago, America was in the middle of just two main crises: the stubbornly persistent coronavirus pandemic that has taken more than 100,000 American lives, and the sharp recession that it caused — the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression by several measures. Since then, the killing of George Floyd, a black Minnesotan, in police custody has spurred widespread outrage, historic protests against police brutality, and a national reckoning with racism.

But a severely battered economy remains the backdrop of all these other big news stories. And now, as the initial emergency funds Congress appropriated in March near expiration, elected officials are debating how much more federal aid should be given, if any at all.

Opinion columnist Paul Krugman warned in an article this week that the latest jobs report, which showed a slightly improved employment situation, “may be bad for future policy.” The American economy “is still very much on life support,” he wrote, “and a bit of good news is all too likely to encourage the usual suspects to end that life support too soon.”

Mr. Krugman’s fellow economist (and sometime rival) Stephanie Kelton wrote an opinion essay, adapted from her new book “The Deficit Myth,” not only agreeing with the need for more aid but also arguing that as long as inflation remains low, a currency-issuing superpower like the United States can spend without fear or raising taxes. She concluded: “To lift America out of its current economic crisis, Congress does not need to ‘find the money,’ as many say, in order to spend more. It just needs to find the votes and the political will.”

— Talmon Joseph Smith