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Around a dozen states are handing out tax rebates. Could that fuel more inflation?

Jul 6, 2022
It's a bit like the stimulus payments the federal government handed out early in the pandemic. Just don't call it stimulus.
Some economists think "inflation relief checks" should be more targeted or distributed in installments.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How the Department of Education is recommending higher ed spend money on mental health care

In the wake of the pandemic, there's enormous demand from college students for mental health care. The Department of Education has thoughts on how schools can provide it.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

How are schools spending federal pandemic relief funds?

Nov 29, 2021
Summer school, tutoring and HVAC replacement are emerging as big areas of spending, says Nic Querolo, of Bloomberg.
Schools are beginning to spend federal COVID-19 relief funds on programs to mitigate learning loss caused by the pandemic.
Michael Loccisano via Getty Images

All this talk about the Fed "tapering" bond-buying — what's it to you?

Sep 22, 2021
Two words: interest rates. On stuff like mortgages. Business loans. Keeping them low keeps capital flowing in this pandemic economy.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met with Congress this week, saying there hasn't been as much progress on inflation as the central bank had hoped.
Nicholas Kamm via Getty Images

New York creates fund for undocumented workers

Apr 12, 2021
COVID-19 has disproportionately affected many groups, including undocumented immigrants. Lawmakers want them to be compensated.
Many jobs often done by undocumented immigrants, such as construction and food service, were cut back during the pandemic.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Uber and Lyft dole out cash to get drivers back on the road

Apr 8, 2021
Ride-hail companies are trying to bounce back from their current driver shortage. Many drivers think it's safer to deliver food than drive people.
Many gig workers, Uber and Lyft drivers included, still fear for their health as they drive passengers around.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“This is not Christmas,” Illinois comptroller warns of federal relief money

Mar 16, 2021
“That money is essentially spoken for,” Susana Mendoza says of the $7.5 billion coming to the state from the American Rescue Plan.
Federal relief money offers a chance for Illinois to pay down its debt. Above, a view of Lake Michigan from the Sears Tower Skydeck in Chicago.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Stimulus could fund ventilation improvements in classrooms

Mar 15, 2021
Run-down public schools made air quality a problem before COVID.
Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Inside the economy President Biden inherits

Jan 21, 2021
How will the Biden administration approach a sharply unequal recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
The 10 million job losses for the U.S. economy have been concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sectors. Elsewhere in the economy, there's actually been substantial business formation.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Bigger relief deal in a Democrat-led Senate is a "safe bet"

Jan 6, 2021
Two economists weigh in on what a Democrat-led Senate might mean for a stimulus package.
Democratic Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock, former Georgia legislator Stacey Abrams and Democratic Sen.-elect Jon Ossoff listen to President-elect Joe Biden speak during a campaign rally in Atlanta.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images