The Hinckley Institute Radio Hour — This week on the program, a panel of experts discusses the politics and economics of COVID-19 and how our response to them will shape our future. For over a year, the pandemic has radically affected supply chains, consumption trends, investment and the fundamentals of how we do business. The government’s response has been equally unprecedented in its scope—including expanded unemployment benefits, direct payments and billions of dollars to support businesses.
Now, even as vaccination efforts lessen or eliminate the most immediate impacts of COVID-19, the pandemic continues to shape our politics and our economic recovery. Debt and inflation are a concern as states across the country contemplate using their federal stimulus funds and plan the path back to normalcy.
At the forefront of this recovery is Utah, which has maintained its best-in-the-nation economy for the 14th year in a row. The Utah Legislature called a special session to allocate the $1.65 billion of stimulus funds provided to Utah by the American Rescue Plan Act. Legislative leadership has indicated that they will use less than a third of the funds available, holding the rest for future use and freeing one-time funds for the 2022 legislative session.
This week’s panel of experts discusses the pandemic, how it changed our economic systems and how the policy response will shape our recovery. The panelists include Juliette Tennert, chief economist for the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute; Rodi von Arnim, associate professor of economics at the University of Utah; and Phillip Singer, assistant professor of political science at the University of Utah. Moderating today’s forum is Tammy Reque, economics ambassador at the University of Utah.
This forum was recorded on April 14th, 2021.
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