Marc Goldwein: The Prescription: Fiscal Policy for the COVID-19 Economy

Marc Goldwein is senior vice president and senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently appeared on The Prescription: Fiscal Policy for the COVID-19 Economy, a series of online conversations hosted by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. A video of the conversation is below: 

Goldwein spoke with Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, about the American Rescue Plan and the state of the economy. While Goldwein agrees that additional fiscal relief is warranted, he noted that the American Rescue Plan is too large and poorly targeted. The plan is much larger than what’s needed to close the economic output gap and injecting more fiscal relief into the economy than is needed could pose serious economic risks. Goldwein used states and localities as an example, noting that the $500 billion of state and local aid in the package is likely too much since many states are facing budget surpluses, not deficits. He suggested policymakers provided a smaller amount of relief that’s dispersed incrementally and focused on helping the states and localities hit hardest by the pandemic. 

Views expressed by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee