WASHINGTON — When restaurant industry executives gathered at the White House this month, Tilman J. Fertitta pleaded with President Trump to let his chains of high-end eateries gain access to a government loan program meant for small businesses. Mr. Fertitta, the billionaire owner of the restaurant group Landry’s, told Mr. Trump it was unfair that […]
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More than 40 million people — the equivalent of one out of every four American workers — have filed for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic grabbed hold in mid-March, the government reported on Thursday, an astounding tally that rivals the bleakest years of the Great Depression. The latest batch of claims — the 2.1 […]
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Like dutiful soldiers, President Trump’s top economic advisers have been ardently echoing their boss’s optimism about the likelihood of a quick economic snapback, while downplaying the need for another rescue package. Regrettably, that’s dead wrong on both counts, as even Mr. Trump’s pick to head the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has countered repeatedly. Forget a […]
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Ms. DeVos announced the measure in a letter to the Council of Chief State School Officers, which represents state education chiefs, defending her position on how education funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, should be spent. “The CARES Act is a special, pandemic-related appropriation to benefit all American […]
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ImageSanitizing a preschool classroom in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday ahead of reopening. Such centers have been closed for months worldwide. But in many countries, government support means they don’t fear running out of money before they can open again.Credit…Yonhap/EPA, via Shutterstock It has become agonizingly clear to parents of young children that the economy […]
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WASHINGTON — As child hunger soars to levels without modern precedent, an emergency program Congress created two months ago has reached only a small fraction of the 30 million children it was intended to help. The program, Pandemic-EBT, aims to compensate for the declining reach of school meals by placing their value on electronic cards […]
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It was a late Sunday afternoon in September 2008, and senior aides to Barack Obama were gathered at his presidential campaign headquarters in Chicago. Their latest polling showed that Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, had lost his lead over his opponent, Senator John McCain, since the Republican convention. They were worried. Two hours into the […]
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House Democrats have passed a new “phase four” $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill. You could call it an opening bid toward a package to support a sensible, deliberate economic reopening. But Republicans are having none of it. No one has staked out the “no” position as starkly as Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader. He […]
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A multibillion-dollar institution in the Seattle area invests in hedge funds, runs a pair of venture capital funds and works with elite private equity firms like the Carlyle Group. But it is not just another deep-pocketed investor hunting for high returns. It is the Providence Health System, one of the country’s largest and richest hospital […]
Read More A multibillion-dollar institution in the Seattle area invests in hedge funds, runs a pair of venture capital funds and works with elite private equity firms like the Carlyle Group. But it is not just another deep-pocketed investor hunting for high returns. It is the Providence Health System, one of the country’s largest and richest hospital […]
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A multibillion-dollar institution in the Seattle area invests in hedge funds, runs a pair of venture capital funds and works with elite private equity firms like the Carlyle Group. But it is not just another deep-pocketed investor hunting for high returns. It is the Providence Health System, one of the country’s largest and richest hospital […]
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While President Trump and his allies in Congress seek to tighten access to food stamps, they are showing compassion for one group: zillionaires. Their economic rescue package quietly allocated $135 billion — yes, that’s “billion” with a “b” — for the likes of wealthy real estate developers. My Times colleague Jesse Drucker notes that Trump […]
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After three weeks in session, the United States Senate emptied out again on Friday, as lawmakers fled Washington for the Memorial Day recess. They left without even pretending to tackle the next round of coronavirus relief. This is how the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, wants it. Many Republicans, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, are […]
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When President Trump was campaigning in 2016, his company announced a new line of bespoke hotels that would be built with partners across the country. But two years into his presidency, the Trump Organization shelved the brand and dropped the only partner, a Mississippi family business that one member says lost about $2 million in […]
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On March 13, as New York City schools let out for what turned out to be their last official day and offices were telling their employees to work from home, I came down with an ominous fever and chills, and my business partner and I closed our two Brooklyn bar-restaurants. By the next week I […]
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The federal coronavirus relief packages were less effective than they could have been because they ignored the ways that the pandemic would inevitably harm some communities more than others. We must do better. Before doling out any money, we propose that governments at the local, state and federal levels, as well as philanthropies, analyze the […]
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Even as restrictions on businesses began lifting across the United States, another 2.4 million workers filed for jobless benefits last week, the government reported Thursday, bringing the total to 38.6 million in nine weeks. “I hate to say it, but this is going to take longer and look grimmer than we thought,” Nicholas Bloom, an […]
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One of the great threats to the post-pandemic economy is becoming clear: Vast numbers of small and midsize businesses will close permanently during the crisis, causing millions of jobs to be lost. The federal government moved with uncharacteristic speed to help those businesses — enacting the Paycheck Protection Program, with $669 billion allocated so far. […]
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Over 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment over the past six weeks. That is roughly 20 percent of the labor force. And that number is likely to grow larger as most states are ill equipped to handle the onslaught of the newly unemployed. While unprecedented numbers of people are seeking unemployment compensation, many state […]
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WASHINGTON — The United States economy faces irreparable damage from the coronavirus, the nation’s top economic policymakers warned on Tuesday, although they offered differing solutions on how to ease the blow to business that has thrown more than 20 million people out of work. In a joint appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, Treasury Secretary […]
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As the United States plunges into the worst economic downturn in decades, there is growing concern that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury are being too timid and halting in their approach as they scramble to rescue the economy. On Monday, a report from the congressional commission overseeing the Fed and Treasury’s efforts pointed out […]
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As far as I can tell, most epidemiologists are horrified by America’s rush to reopen the economy, to abandon much of the social distancing that has helped contain Covid-19. We know what a safe reopening requires: a low level of infection, abundant testing and the ability to quickly trace and isolate the contacts of new […]
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Black and Latino business owners are struggling to get government assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program, a new survey has found, and many say they are on the brink of closing permanently. The survey, conducted by the Global Strategy Group for two equal-rights organizations, Color of Change and UnidosUS, included interviews with 500 business owners […]
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