CNN News:美国经济按下"暂停键" 面临经济衰退
Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Rolling Adjustment are all the names of what? White House rooms, recessions, amendments or streets in D.C? There are all the names of historic American recessions, decreases in economic activity that lasted for months.
cnn Chief Business Correspondent CHRISTINE ROMANS: America has pressed the pause button on the economy. Social distancing, closed schools, canceled events, curfews — it will have an economic cost. A recession may already be underway. Some estimates for second quarter economic growth to shrink five percent. Lay-offs imminent.
The tip of the spear is small business. Many don't have big bank accounts to cushion them. They have to pay their employees, pay their vendors and suppliers, pay their own rent, even when their customers stop coming.
Big business has deeper pockets but may need big help too. Airlines are seeking up to $50 billion in aid from the government, a dramatic change in fortune from what had been record airline profits, tax cuts, stock buy backs for its shareholders. U.S. airports are seeking $10 billion in government assistance to offset losses spurred by this outbreak. That's according to one industry source. Tourism, hotels, cruise lines — their businesses collapsing. So what has been done?
Well, the Federal Reserve has slashed benchmark short-term interest rates to near zero and pledged to help the banking system by buying $700 billion in securities. Congress has already passed $8.3 billion in emergency spending to help increase capacity for things like testing and is working on relief for some but not all workers to have unemployment benefits and paid sick leave. But many economists say a large targeted stimulus needs to come together and soon. A little over a decade after bailouts for banks, workers and the auto industry divided this nation. Here we go again.