Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang sent out this message today:
Hello, I hope that you and yours are doing great at home. I am writing this from home with my two boys; their schools sent them home because of COVID-19.
Evelyn and I are able to accommodate our boys being home from school. Many families around the country cannot. They are busy doing shift work as security guards, waitresses, parking lot attendants, bartenders, hairdressers, cooks, sales clerks, fast food workers, dog walkers, personal trainers, Uber drivers, etc. and need to go to work in order to survive. Of course, many of them have no work to go to as businesses cut back and shut their doors, which then creates more problems.
Events have been canceled months in advance. The CDC has advised avoiding any gatherings of 50+ for the next 8 weeks, and just today the White House advised no groups larger than 10 meet in the next 15 days. All restaurants, bars and theatres in New York City are shutting down. It’s similar in Seattle, San Francisco, and many other cities as commerce slows to a crawl. Everyone is being affected, as the coronavirus is now in 49 out of 50 states.
The toughest part is that it’s unclear how long schools and businesses will be closed. Will everything reopen in 8 weeks? What data will be used to make that decision? The infection rate is unclear because testing is sparse and we don’t really know what is happening in many communities. Policy decisions are being made to slow the virus down to clear capacity in our healthcare system, and that could continue for a long while.
In the meantime, millions of families and individuals are being sent into economic oblivion. 78% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, and almost half say they couldn’t afford an unexpected $400 bill. This was before the crisis. Most Americans do not have the capacity to sit at home for weeks – or months – on end and meet even basic needs. What do you do if you’ve depleted your savings and credit and still need to put food on the table?
The remedies that are being offered – expanded sick leave, payroll taxes, lower interest rates, loans to companies – will do nothing or next to nothing for many Americans who are being hit by the economic slowdown. The average shift worker is a temp or contractor who can be fired at will.
The most effective thing we could do is put cash into people’s hands.
I’m glad to say that the consensus is growing quickly that this is exactly what we must do. Economists from Jason Furman to Nouriel Roubini say it’s the right move. Commentators from Anand Giridharadas to Geraldo Rivera agree. And a diverse political coalition is growing, from Ro Khanna and AOC to Tim Ryan and Tulsi Gabbard to Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton, that believes money for the people is the most effective stimulus during the crisis.
The only way we can help both the parent at home with their kids and the hotel worker who just lost their job is to send checks as fast as possible.
My campaign spent the past 2 years mainstreaming the idea of universal basic income. I believe it’s about to pay off just in time to help our people manage this crisis and keep our country whole. And of course after people get UBI, its benefits will be obvious. This is a terrible time. But it may be that we can accelerate the adoption of our ideas in response to a crisis that affects us all.
Stay safe and healthy,
– Andrew
