Nothing Inspires Confidence Like A Proposed Emergency Payroll Tax Cut

Wrong! 

This is especially true if you are an airline or hotel employee that is about to be laid off as a result of a coronavirus lapse in demand.

OK Kort, what would inspire confidence?

Tell the truth. Don’t speculate about when a vaccine might be available or make statements about how quickly testing will be available. Just give the unvarnished, knowable facts and what the administration is doing to get its arms around the potential contagion. Honesty is always the best policy. This bullet may be a deal-breaker.

The chief point person (a corona czar) should be a trusted source, someone familiar with the science and medicine, someone with the ability to explain the complex to those without a scientific background and some who can answer questions, not the president or vice-president. The administration should refer all inquiries to this person and, otherwise, be quiet on the topic (no contradiction if facts don’t fit the narrative they would like to present).

If we have to open up the federal checkbook it should be for spending that addresses the immediate problem not additional stimulus or rate cuts to ostensibly keep the market from crashing. Confidence in leadership will take care of that.

I believe that these three points would go along way to calming the situation and re-establishing credibility.

One final item might be proposals or the offer of targeted assistance to those industries most damaged by the virus, especially if this is a longer-term event.

This is my opinion. What’s yours?