Video: $1,400 stimulus payments could be the last

“A lot of this will come down to how affectively we are able to get the virus under control and whether or not the economy is able to rebound once we succeed in getting the virus under control,” says Jonathan Bydlak, the Director of Fiscal and Budget Policy for the R-Street Institute. “I think this stimulus package, like all the packages we’ve seen up to this point have some things that are good, some things that are mixed, and some things that are bad.”

Bydlak points to targeted assistance in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, saying specific industries have fared much worse than others and will need continued assistance, however, an additional mass-distribution of direct stimulus checks should not be needed, assuming the vaccine is successful and mitigation efforts continue.

“I think we should make a distinction with what we were facing back in April and May and what we are facing now,” says Bydlak. “In that environment of the spring, getting cash out to people as quickly as possible is a very worthwhile economic policy in my opinion and it is very hard to target.”

Watch the interview here.