Recession ready: Fiscal policy options to support communities and stabilize the economy

On Monday, June 8, The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth hosted a webcast discussing the importance of expanding aid to state and local governments as part of the continued fiscal policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The webcast began with a fireside chat with Rep. Don Beyer, vice chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, and Heather Boushey of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. The webcast also included a roundtable discussion between Jason Furman of Harvard University, former Mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter, and Jay Shambaugh of The Hamilton Project.

The webcast coincided with the one year anniversary of the release of The Hamilton Project and Washington Center for Equitable Growth book, “Recession Ready: Fiscal Policies to Stabilize the American Economy,” which offers six big ideas, including two entirely new initiatives and four significant improvements to existing programs, all to be triggered on and off automatically by economic indicators. The detailed policy proposals focus on unemployment insurance, nutrition assistance, employment subsidies, direct payments to individuals, aid to state and local governments, and infrastructure spending, issues that are all being debated by Congress today.

For updates on the event, follow @HamiltonProj and @equitablegrowth. Ask questions for speakers by joining the conversation on Twitter using #RecessionReady or by emailing [email protected].