Finally, the US Congress reached an agreement yesterday morning for the most important rescue plan in the history of the country for a value close to two trillion dollars in aid to companies and citizens to try to alleviate the damage of the coronavirus pandemic in the world's first economy. But it has done so with a delay that can be devastating at a time when every hour counts. Especially when more than 30 million citizens lack any health insurance - unlike what happens in Europe - because of Barack Obama's perverse reversal of healthcare reform. This augurs very serious social health problems and the hardening of the budding economic recession.
The original proposal presented by the Republicans and promoted by Donald Trump had aspects of opacity in the distribution of aid incompatible with the transparency required in a democracy, especially in times of serious crisis. The Treasury Secretary and Trump's confidence man, Steven Mnuchin, would not have to disclose the aid beneficiaries until after six months and the beneficiary companies would receive the money without any compensation, among others, for example, the maintenance of the jobs There will now be an inspector general who will monitor decisions made on the amounts to be provided.
That the United States has launched its economic machinery to serve the fight against the consequences, also social, of the pandemic is undoubtedly good news. Among the measures that show the criticality of the situation, the entry by check into the private accounts of most Americans of amounts of around $ 1,500 per adult and about 500 for each minor stands out. Milton Friedman's helicopter. The US accounts are set to take one of the biggest hits in their history. The rating agencies offer figures ranging from 14% to 30% in the fall of the economy.
The delay in approving the measure may seem insignificant, but in this case it adds to a cascade of delayed reactions in the fight against the coronavirus that have characterized the US strategy. Until recently, Trump proclaimed that "in a couple of days" the number of infected in the US would drop to zero. But in just 20 days it is already the third country in the world with the highest number of infections on an alarming upward curve. If Trump had heeded the gravity of the situation in February, auto giant Ford and power company General Electric could have made respirators available to American doctors in mid-April. Now, Ford CEO Jim Hackett has warned that they won't be ready until June.
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