‘Pinching Myself’: Nobel Prize-Winning Economist On Scale Of Covid Relief Bill | All In | MSNBC

“I’m pinching myself wondering if this is some kind of dream, because we really are responding more or less adequately to the crisis at hand,” says Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on the Covid relief bill. Aired on 03/08/2021.
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‘Pinching Myself’: Nobel Prize-Winning Economist On Scale Of Covid Relief Bill | All In | MSNBC

106 comments

  1. When ordinary people get extra money it gets spent and creates jobs it comes back into the economy. Great move by president Biden

    1. @The Alpengeist luckily, this package is giving more than just a check, there are loads of programs this is pushing forward to help. That check will help, then so will the child tax payment that will go out EVERY month per child, the money for insurance coverage for those out of work, added unemployment per month, loan forgiveness programs…literally, a wealth of programs to help those that really do need it…including the money for the hospitality industry that has been hit so hard. We are finally Americans helping Americans … be proud, even if you “poo-poo” the check, look into it a little further to see the plethora of positive impacts this will make across the board.

    2. ​@jason w “QUESTION EVERYTHING” Ok, I will. But wait… When you say question “everything” do you mean everything everything or only those things that you question? So can I question OAN? QAnon? Sky News Australia? Fox News? Alex Jones?

      What about peer reviewed medical journals? Those articles contain information that is written by incredibly smart experts who specialize in medicine. They know stuff. And those articles are questioned by other experts (that’s what “peer reviewed” means). So those people are already doing what you asked: they question everything already.

      And what about the experts at the CDC? and the FDA? They are doctors, PHDs, and experts as well. They review what the manufacturers tell them, in other words the FDA and CDC question Phizer, Moderna and J&J about how they did their work, how they manufacture the vaccines, how they know that the vaccine is safe, how they know it works. So again, those people are doing what you asked: they question everything being told them. There is no more snake oil in the world.

      What I’m trying to tell you is: We already do question everything. To a very deep level, using everything we know and is available to us, including scientific, mathematical and engineering methods. When literally hundreds of millions of people’s lives are at stake, doing anything less is criminal.

      So what if the vaccines actually work and they aren’t experimental gene therapy? And we know they work, because everyone has continually questioned everything that anyone says about them.

    3. @Xena3 – Please explain to me how millions of dollars going to Union Pensions, Blue State Bailouts, Planned Parenthood, Universities, National Endowment for the Arts, Building a Bridge and a Tunnel will help people out of work because of Covid pay their rent, bills, and buy groceries ????

  2. It’s unfortunate that not one single Republican voted for a bill that would provide additional aid to the unemployed, small businesses, homeowners, renters, students, essential workers, and families going hungry.

    1. that’s exactly why they didnt vote for it, it would actually help poor and working families!! if 350 billion went to big businesses you know the GOP would’ve loved that and ensured millions and billions were taken away from WIC and foodstamps to give more to the big businesses. republicans DO NOT care about working families I don’t know what more has to be said and done to show the American people that.

    2. @Bianca Culpo right. last time, it took a depression to show which party was for regular folks. this time, there’s a good chance the rescue bill will demonstrate that. the problem has been right-wing media, which in parts of the country is pretty much all there is; decades of brainwashing.

  3. What a novel idea. In a time of economic crisis, let’s try giving back money to the people who need it most instead of the people who are already super rich and don’t need it.
    Because we all know that once multi-millionaires make their fortune, any extra money they get will of course make it down to the rest of us. 🙄

    1. @debbiedoodiedandi Buying a yacht made in your country would be okay, although a billionaire likely already has all they need, maybe a dozen of them. Whatever money flows the billionaire’s way is just noise.

    2. Rich people deserve the money because they pay most of the taxes. Just because you need it doesn’t mean you deserve it!

    3. @Selfish Capitalist No they do not. They dont pay their percentage and the percentage should be higher, it isnt near what the poor pay in dollars either, many multi billion dollar companies pay no tax. This is America, every country is a bit different

  4. I don’t know all of whats in the bill but I can bet that if someone with the knowledge breaks down Bidens 1.9 T bill and The THUGS bill that was previously passed. Bidens bill will benefit children and the every day citizens versus the already rich The THUG supported!!!!!!

    1. So how did you reach such a bombastic assertion when you yourself have admitted to not knowing the details?!
      Is this really Trumpocalypse pretending to be another fear monger?!?
      Or just another parrot squawking?!

    2. @Lori Nelson That much? Didn’t think Trump cared so much about helping the poor. He must have misread and thought POOR was one of his fraudulent charities.

  5. I felt hope when Biden politely told the 10 GOP Senate Lucy Van Pelts that he wasn’t going to try and kick their ball anymore. Remember when Obama’s team negotiated so much with Susan Collins, and yet she ended up just one more solid No? I think she may have been worse than Grassley. Also, let’s not fall for the ‘shame on you for not living up to your own ideals’ talk they put out. An opponent or an enemy can have a point, but this bunch has no credibility on any of these fronts.

    1. @Sheila Boston Yeah, the Lucy/Charlie Brown thing is hardly new. What again happily seems new is the Democrats deciding they didn’t want to also re-enact ‘It’s Your First Kiss, CB’ as well. I think the world of Obama, but he kept right on extending his arm till the shoulder blade was gone.

  6. When President Joe Biden signs the stimulus bill into law later this week after its passed in the House of Representatives it will be a HUGE WIN for the American people.President Joe Biden is a good man and he is a very very good President.

    1. 🙄 Only about 60% of the $3.9T to respond to COVID to date, is actually related to COVID. And everyone is 🥳. What a Corrupt, immoral, and foolish society

  7. The thing I noticed about the COVID relief bill is that no matter how many changes there were, it was always a 1.9 trillion dollar relief bill. It was like it does not matter that much where we spend the 1.9 trillion dollars as long as we put that much money into the economy. It’d just really nice that average Americans are getting a good portion of that into their own pockets. Kudos to the Democrats.

    1. @Nancy Webb Covid relief to me is aid to small businesses who suffered due to the hands of poor state mandates and lockdowns. Covid relief is aid to people who have lost their jobs due to layoffs during covid.

      Covid relief is NOT giving benefits to illegal aliens, raising the minimum wage, or the dreadful “Equality Act” that is diminishing the hopes and dreams of American women (biological women).

    2. @Jay French illegal aliens don’t, and never have received stimulus money. You fell for the banana in the tailpipe!

    3. @Mark Jones shame to use a Beverly Hills Cop quote with so much misinformation. It gives amnesty to undocumented migrants. America is a free ride nowadays and you have no clue bro…

    4. except we’re giving hundreds of millions for gender studies, while we have homeless people on the street, and you stupid progressive morons don’t see a problem with that i guess

  8. The Republicans have had 30 years to prove “Trickle-Down Economics”. It has not worked so far and has created the greatest divide of rich and poor to date. So ,”Jesus Take The Wheel” and drive us into Morning in America!!!! with some good old fashioned Keynesian Economics.

    1. Try 45 years, not 30. Bush senior summed it up perfectly; Voodoo economics! And the republicans have had no problem living off the government tit by giving cooperations & the rich tax cuts in 2017 that were not needed. Plus with that tax Bill most companies didn’t pay a dime in taxes and they are determined to make it permanent. That is OUR money rightfully coming to us & people like Manchin and Sinema don’t want us having any of it nor do they want us to have a raise that is desperately needed for the majority of Americans!

    2. “Trickle Down Economics” was never a valid economic theory, but rather a veiled, callous republican mantra; a modern day, “let them eat cake”.

  9. Here’s hoping that the disabled & seniors receiving the bare minimum of Social Security aren’t left behind. Surviving on what we get isn’t really surviving.

    1. ​@PhoenixFiremouse – If you collect disability, it doesn’t matter if your spouse earns a lot of money or nothing at all. Disability is based on your own work record. Maybe you’re talking about something entirely different, but if someone is disabled, he/she will not lose benefits just because of marriage. Maybe you’re getting a disability check because of the death of a spouse? That would be different, but it’s not SSDI.

    2. @Lotta Sunshine the dot gov website has a page for resource limits. 2000 for a single person, 3000 for a couple.

    3. Yes I agree. Unfortunately we will get no extra help. Meanwhile, head of households with 2-3-4? Children will get half my yearly income for free. But I have to pay my hard earned money to pay for them. Unmarried mothers can bank some money on my tax dollars. Write your government. All of them.

  10. “Outrageous fiscal mendacity is neither historically normal nor bipartisan. It’s a modern Republican thing.”
    — Paul Krugma

    1. @Gage King Nice word salad. Yes we know you think we’ve gotta learn to use our seatbelts by ramming us into a brick wall. Very wise, sh*t for brains.

    2. @John Assal Well man you really make yourself seem unintelligent. I have said almost nothing to warrant using the term word salad. You’re fine to dislike how I talk but it doesn’t make you look less stupid to insult it as something it’s not.
      You got something you actually want to say or are you done here?

    3. @Gage King The brevity of your previous comment only makes it that much more impressive you avoided any rational thought. You’ve been done here.

    4. @John Assal Okay buddy I’m just going to go. You need a breath of fresh air and some level of decency.

    5. @Gage King So no rational argument or factual point? Check and check. How rude to call that out. Oh well. You’ll feel better after a good cry.

  11. The minimum wage ought be around 22 bucks if the world was right… Unfortunately their is a GOP gang of greedy money hoarding thugs..

    1. @dan rode Exactly and change it every year (lile 22 this year and 42 next year then back to 28 to avoid a runaway inflation

    2. I hear you. I am a college grad working 5 years in a job that required my degree—20.00 an hour. It would be nice to be able to afford to pay my student loans.

    3. @Kimberly Christine Good luck with that task. Maybe you get some relief now. Always thought Liz would have made the best President by far. More brains and ideas than the lot of them…

    1. @WorldFlex No, it was Reagan who signed NAFTA and started the job loss. It was a major part of his 1980 political campaign. Your education is seriously lacking.

  12. Can we dump the Reagan-isms into a grave, where they belong and maybe go with New Deal-isms instead, you know, something genuinely progressive.

    1. @Anchors Aweigh I understand and agree to a great degree. Neither of them were great presidents – they each did their own damage. What I explained to Dennis Lee (above) is ONLY that Reagan, at the least, favored smaller government. Socialism doesn’t take hold readily under a smaller government. Aside from that, I don’t give Ronnie too much credit.

    2. @Ken Klein There are two flaws in your argument. 1) Having robust social programs ≠ Socialism. 2) There is zero evidence to back up your slippery slope argument that robust social programs inevitably leads to authoritarianism. In fact, the societal instability that comes from massive inequality is generally one of the main things that leads to authoritarianism, whether it be the leftist socialist/communist form or the right fascist form.

    3. @Ken Klein Well that would be specific to the kind of program, wouldn’t it? But generally I am talking about programs that sufficiently offset the inevitable abuses and inequality that come with an under-regulated capitalist economic system.

  13. The thing that still fazes me is that the people we’re actually listening to and taking the advice of now are… (gasp) actual experts. Not cultists, not cronies paid to give a pre-approved answer, not demogogues or cardboard-cuttout professionals (who lost their liscences due to shady practices or questionably done research) who are being kept around because their answers are what the powers-that-be want to hear – but ACTUAL experts with meaningful experience. THAT’s what feels surreal.

  14. The Democrats learned that if you leave the middle class broke while you Bailout Wall Street……you get Trump.

    1. @Bryan Machin If being called a child is one of these of your worries why make a post? You realize you’re proving my one…….you have got to be someone’s ex wife.

    2. @Matthew Allen Uhh, I said “the LEAST of my worries”. That means I DON’T CARE if you call me a child (or anything else). Do you get it now?

    3. @Matthew Allen I made you look stupid. That wasn’t nice was it?
      Tell you what, you prove there’s a “Deep State” and I’ll get a cat.

    4. @Bryan Machin I did, you are amazingly dense! We’re born last week? Did you completely miss the Mueller Hearings? You a blabbing half wit that sounds like a CNN intern.
      You need a cat worse than I thought.

  15. ( THE SCALE ) or , as t’s known in other industrialized countries , a month’s worth …… it’s just a month’s worth folks , Canada, germany, England France Spain etc… have been supporting their people and economy with checks of $2,000 or more every month since the pandemic began , We get 1 crappy $1,400 check and we’re supposed to be thrilled somehow …

  16. Notice how the Republican voting public is SILENT about their elected members of congress voting against this bill? The liberals are up in arms about the Democrats who fought making this bigger, but the “conservatives” are peculiarly quiet about their representatives going against this entirely.

    1. Where was the competing bill that Republicans offered? Isn’t bipartisanship where each party submits a plan and then they work together to come up with a good plan for Americans? Just saying no is not what we are paying them for.

    2. @Nancy Webb The trend has grown steadily over the last century that politicians and party members regard politics as a “zero-sum game” as that dunce of lawyer from as Arizona defined politics in the Supreme Court a few days ago. That is not simply wrong; it delimits the sides for a civil war. Politics is a process of negotiation. If there is no negotiation, and the reasons offered for not negotiating are nonsense, then it is not politics. It isn’t politics as usual or even unusual. It is infantile behaviour, a temper tantrum.

    3. @theeddorian So true. The whole idea is scoring points not doing the job they were elected to do. Amazing how they become millionaires on $174,000 a year.

  17. Yup. Welcome to America. Where, if we see a more or less adequate response to a crisis from the government, our first thought is, “Am I dreaming right now? Is this real?”

    1. “more or less adequate”

      You’re not giving our rulers enough credit. America’s fiscal response was considerably better than the rest of the world; we’re essentially the only country that *cut* poverty and *increased* median after-tax income during this pandemic.

    2. @Jacob Thompson Are you on crack or just a bot? No offense but your comment here seems to clash badly with your others and reality both. Your account may have been hacked.

    3. @Jacob Thompson (FROM FORBES) Due to the coronavirus pandemic’s decimation of the labor market and the months-long expiration of benefits from the government relief package keeping families afloat, the poverty rate in the United States surged from 9.3% in June to 11.7% in November 2020, according to a report released Wednesday by analysts at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame, creating the biggest increase in a single year since the government began tracking poverty in 1960.

    4. @Gregg Robinson well if you’re talking about us gov, they pardoned the people of unit 731 for crimes against humanity as long as they gave us their research ( human experimentation, etc )

      the people in control of our gov start wars over seas for oil, more control, etc

      our gov was involved with 9/11, 3 towers fell that day but only 2 are remembered/honored, why would that be you think?

      a day or so before 9/11 happened, our pentagon misplaced 2 trillion dollars and a man was going to put them on blast about it, then they fell.

      they step on the constitution ever since it was created, without anything being done about it ( the law of the land constitution )

      they helped the fbi and atf get away with waco and ruby ridge, innocent men women and children and even animals were slaughtered by them

      the list goes on

  18. I don’t “need” the stimulus money, but I’m going to use it and it’s going to go right into the economy Average folks don’t buy back stocks, or put their money in offshore tax havens. Trickle down economics doesn’t work, trickle up does.

    1. Trickle down does work. Before I lost my company in 2008 when Obama took office, every extra dime I had went into it, everything from buying more equipment to hiring more help. When my business grew I was able to pay more people because I made more money. You sheep just look at things from the bottom up and very jealously at that.

    2. @Cold Beer Isolated incidences like your situation may have seen some compensation but the vast majority of companies benefited from such financial overtures that did NOT see this trickle down to the average employee . There have been extensive studies on the subject matter and every time the money does NOT trickle down to the average American. You’re living in a fantasy world. Might you reassess your predicament for a better outlook in the future. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/23/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down/

    3. @Trent Timoy It is a natural tendency for businesses to invest post-tax net revenue back into their business instead of listing it as income that is taxed again. You problem is that you have bought into the atypical socialist class warfare belief system.

      BTW, the Washington Post is a lib hack rag, not worthy of quoting as a reliable source for anything except malcontent for the purposes of generating news worthy “issues” (ie. stirring the pot).

    4. @Cold Beer Your problem is, and has always been, the tendency to negate FACTS and Evidence. If you don’t have that what is there that is left? Stop being the hack of chump economics that has shown that ONLY the very Rich can lead and the poor is to be used and abused. Try and understand that you’ve learned something today. Make sure it gets passed around.

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