National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow is noting that the administration wants to start to incentivize people to go back to work soon amid the coronavirus pandemic.
When mentioning the federal government giving Americans an extra $600 weekly with unemployment benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic, CNN host Jake Tapper noted during Sunday’s “State of the Union” that it is “slated to run out in six weeks.”
He then asked Kudlow, “Should American families that are receiving these extra $600 checks right now expect that money to stop in August?”
Kudlow responded in clarifying unemployment benefits will not stop, however, the additional $600 additional weekly checks will stop at the end of July.
“I mean, we’re paying people not to work. It’s better than their salaries would get,” he said.
He added, “That might have worked for the first couple of months. It’ll end in late July.”
With the weekly unemployment check boost, people in more than half of U.S. states are receiving more in unemployment benefits than their salaries, according to a previous article in The New York Times.
Watch Kudlow’s interview below:
Kudlow also noted that President Donald Trump’s administration is looking at “reform measure” to provide a bonus to incentivize people to go back to work.
“It will not be as large, and it will create an incentive to work,” he said.
Tapper noted that he does not see the current situation as people not wanting to go back to work but rather jobs not returning.
In response, Kudlow said, “I personally agree with you. I think people want to go back to work. And I think they welcome the reopening of the economy, and I think they’re anxious to get out and about.”
“However, at the margin, incentives do matter. And so we have heard from business after business, industry after industry, and there’s already some evidence that this effect is taking place.”
Regarding the U.S. economy and the coronavirus pandemic, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Friday during a Fox News interview that Trump is “very interested” in having at least $2 trillion in the next coronavirus relief package.
