Why $2 trillion isn't nearly enough...

[Igel]

4. It's not the whole pie.

It's like taking a picture of the bread plate at a restaurant, tweeting it out, and saying, "THIS is what they're serving us!"

The assumption is it's the meal because otherwise the statement seems overblown. It's a true statement, but the inference that you make is false. Pan out and you see the salad, the beverage, and the rest of the dinner.

The $2400 would be enough for most couple for a month or more. But while the numbers of claims are high--3 million?--3 million out of 131 million. 2.3% of workers.

The number will certainly go up. A lot. But take where I live--over half of workers are considered "essential" and are not just allowed to work, they're requested to work. And they, too, will get the $1200, helping to keep things going. (You know that "multiplier effect" that was magic with the first stimulus. It hasn't entirely gone away. But with the velocity of money being way down, in all likelihood, the multiplier, already less a number than a range, will shrink.)

And that's in addition to the pass-through funding, state unemployment (which is good for 26 weeks), etc.