What Will Be the Economic Toll from COVID-19?

On Thursday, the Department of Labor reported more than 4.4 million jobs lost in the past week.  Over the past five weeks, 26.4 million people have filed first-time jobless claims.  What are the short-term and long-term economic impacts of this hemorrhaging of jobs, productivity, and revenue?  How much has the Paycheck Protection Program helped? And how aggressively can our economy re-engage when we're already hearing some schools may not be opening in the fall and the Centers for Disease Control believes the coronavirus could be worse in the coming winter than it is now?Brian Wesbury is chief economist at First Trust Advisors in Wheaton, Illinois, and formerly served as chief economist for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.  He walks us through these difficult questions, explains the indicators for and against a rise in inflation, and sizes up the recent volatility in the oil markets.Don't miss this critical conversation on the state of our economy.