Making Sense of the U.S. Economic Policy Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic
Peter B. McCrory and Todd Messer
In the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic downturn, we worked on this site to document the various economic policy responses taken by the U.S. government. Our goal was to better understand each policy response, analyze their economic impact, improve our coding skills, and most importantly have fun! We have since stopped updating the site towards the end of May to focus our attention on our academic research and on finishing our PhDs. We are leaving it up as a reference.
The coronavirus crisis in the United States poses a serious threat to public health. Absent an effective mitigation strategy, millions of Americans are at risk of dying from the disease---with many more facing severe illness and uncertain long-term medical complications.
As a a result, U.S. officials have implemented lock-down policies to dramatically limit most forms of social interaction, bringing many portions of the U.S. economy to a standstill. Already, firms are laying off large numbers of workers, and many Americans are facing ongoing economic uncertainty in the midst of the public health crisis.
This website catalogs the various economic policy responses by the U.S. government to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic---placing, as far as we are able, each policy action in historical and academic context (more details to be added soon). We will update the site throughout the crisis. Comments and suggestions are very welcome.