"It's just base populism obviously, to send out checks to folks without any particular need outside of a recession,"
"But, perhaps weirdly, I've never seen politicians get any love for such distributions."
"The politics next year are all about the midterms, if you can boost the economy before that and the inflation comes due after the election, it could be a politically smart strategy,"
"Treasury is very good at firing up the electronic printing presses and getting the money out quickly. We do it in crisis. We have a lot of experience at it."
Lawmakers use direct cash payments mainly to boost economic activity and to provide households with immediate relief. Outside of recessions, large distributions can raise demand and contribute to inflation, undermining purchasing power. Voter approval from cash payments is unpredictable; generosity does not reliably translate into political support and may be offset by later price increases. Cash transfers are administratively straightforward for the Treasury to deliver quickly during crises, and can be politically timed to influence short-term economic indicators. Policymakers sometimes prefer simple payments over complex affordability programs despite trade-offs between speed, targeting, and longer-term economic effects.
Read at Axios
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