Episode 295: Pandemic Cash Pump

The bailout battle is close to an end so let's dig into what's in this bill, and this business about a Digital Dollar that might have snuck in there.

Plus, my take on the latest Coronavirus news and the election battle heating back up.

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• Senators threaten to delay coronavirus relief bill — Sen. Bernie Sanders later released a statement saying that unless the senators drop their "anti-worker objections," he is prepared to block the legislation in order to impose "strong conditions on the $500 billion corporate welfare fund."
• Trump's businesses barred from bailout money — "It’s not aimed just at Donald Trump, but at anyone in high office," Schumer told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
• Jerome Powell: Fed Weighing Costs, Benefits and Trade-offs of Digital Currency — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell answered questions posed by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) regarding the competitive threat to the U.S. dollar's status as a global reserve currency by China's ambitions to create a digital yuan and the proposal of Libra. Source: Financial Services Committee hearing, Feb. 11, 2020.
• This was the fastest 30% stock market decline ever
• Fed announces unlimited QE and sets up several new lending programs
• Trump Administration Asks States To Withhold Unemployment Numbers — The United States Department of Labor sent an email to state officials asking them to only use loose terms like "very high" or "large increase" when talking about unemployment rates and not mention specific numbers, according to the Times.
• Cashing In: How to Make Negative Interest Rates Work — In a cashless world, there would be no lower bound on interest rates. A central bank could reduce the policy rate from, say, 2 percent to minus 4 percent to counter a severe recession.
• How To Keep The Digital Dollar Democratic — On March 23rd House Democrats did something I and many others have been advocating for some time – draft plans to legislate into existence a digital dolla
• 'Digital Dollar' Stripped From Latest US Coronavirus Relief Bill — House Democrats' latest version of the "Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act," revealed late Monday, does not contain any language around a "digital dollar" in its section on direct stimulus payments.
• How To Keep The Digital Dollar Democratic — On March 23rd House Democrats did something I and many others have been advocating for some time – draft plans to legislate into existence a digital dollar, along with a system of digital wallets
• Fed Digital Dollars Are Part of Debate Over Coronavirus Stimulus
• White House, Senate reach historic $2 trillion deal — The White House and Senate leaders struck a major deal early Wednesday morning over a $2-trillion package to provide a jolt to an economy
• Gallup: Trump job approval rating matches all-time high — The 49 percent job approval rating is the high mark for Trump since he came into office.
• The Evening News Is Back - The New York Times — The coronavirus has put tens of millions of viewers back in the 6:30 p.m. habit.
• The Fox News whipsaw on coronavirus — But now, Fox’s pundits have changed their minds once more — and Trump is listening.
• Pentagon sees coronavirus crisis lasting several months — "I think we need to plan for this to be a few months long at least," US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said
• Dow gains fade as $2T coronavirus pkg. meets Democratic opposition
• House unlikely to get bill to Trump by Wednesday — The House is unlikely to vote on a $2trn coronavirus economic stimulus package on Wednesday as leaders wait for the Senate to first approve it, according to a senior Democratic aide.
• Senate aid package quietly sets aside $17 billion for Boeing
• Marijuana Inc: Inside America's Pot Industry — CNBC goes behind the scenes to explore the inner workings of this secretive industry, focusing on Northern California's "Emerald Triangle," now the marijuana capital of the U.S. In this scenic pocket of America, the pot business, much of it legal under state law, now makes up as much as two-thirds of the local economy.