The US economy is today unstably between a ‘great recession 2.0’ in the real economy and a bona fide great depression a la 1929-34. Whether the future trajectory is more like 2008-2017 or whether it slips into a 1929-34 scenario depends on whether the Fed’s $9T (and rising) money injections can prevent a financial crash in 2020-21, as defaults and bankruptcies rise and expand throughout the US economy in 2020-21.
In my Alternative Visions radio show of May 1, 2020 I discussed these conditions and scenarios in detail.
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TO LISTEN GO TO
http://alternativevisions.podbean.com
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SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT:
The US central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), is in the process of throwing trillions of dollars at the economy, most to businesses and corporations, in an historic effort to bail out the banks and now non-bank businesses as well (for the first time). The objective is to head off and prevent the deep and rapid contraction of the US economy from spawning a wave of defaults and bankruptcies among non-bank businesses that will soon fail to ‘service’ their massive accumulated debt loads run up since 2010. Broad sectors of US business heavily laden with corporate debt—corporate junk bonds, junk loans, and related debt amounting to several trillions $ in the US alone—are on the verge of failing to make principal & interest payments on that massive debt. The Fed is feeding them free money to continue to do so. As well as pumping up bank balance sheets to provide a cushion for the defaults and bankruptcies and avoid a banking-financial system crash in the event of defaults when they come. Rasmus explains how the capitalist drive to return workers to their jobs now gaining momentum is also about business revenue restoration to avoid defaults. Industries most prone to defaults: travel, oil and energy, retail, entertainment will be the leading edge. Rasmus explains the magnitude and composition of the Fed’s $9T commitment to ‘pre-bail out’ the banks and business, and how the US working class will be required to pay the bill—a present on this May Day to workers.
Dr. Jack Rasmus @drjackrasmus
Jack Rasmus 
What is the right way to manage the Covid-19 depression? For one, don’t lay off workers but furlough them and pay 80% of salary until they return to work. Hire the banks to process interim loans to small businesses. I would guess some sort of pass-through would be created to make periodic rents and debt payments, principal and interest. Very complicated. Home Owners Loan Corporation in the New Deal, 1930s, processed — rewrote — how many? The Living New Deal has this page, saying “The HOLC was authorized to make loans from June 13, 1933 through June 12, 1936. During this period, HOLC made over 1 million loans totaling about $3.1 billion – $575 million of which went to individuals [6]. The average loan size was $3,039 (about $52,000 in 2014 dollars) [7]. The HOLC ceased operations on April 30, 1951 with “a slight profit,” defying expectations that taxpayer money would inevitably be lost in such a venture [8].”
Good post, as always. We will need a Home Owners Loan Program and a companion Renters Support Program along similar lines this time. But McConnell-Trump don’t even want to bail out the states and cities (unless Pelosi-Shumer suspend the rule of law for businesses who screw their workers, consumers, communities during the duration of the pandemic!). They know some blue states will go bankrupt (e.g. Illinois) and public workers pensions will collapse–both of which they want to help them retain control of state legislatures (key to controlling the electoral college, gerrymandering, and voter suppression post 2020). McConnell-Trump will destroy the country to get unchallenged control of it and the economy.