Minneapolis Fed Chief Backs Forgivable Loans

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis chief Neel Kashkari told 60 Minutes that giving forgivable loans to small businesses that retain their workers would be one of the better way to prevent a financial crisis fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Avoiding mass layoffs, he said, is better than trying to pull people back into the workforce, which can take years.

Said Kashkari: “Unemployment insurance is important. But it would be much better and much better for the taxpayers and for the country to keep small businesses operating and to keep them with their employees intact.”

“Kashkari knows what it takes to pull the country out of financial hardship. As Assistant Treasury Secretary in 2008, he ran the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, which helped end the Great Recession.”