Economic Roundtable: Pandemic, Protests And A Troubled Economy

Published June 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM CDT

A worker looks inside the closed doors of the Pasadena Community Job Center in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday, May 7, 2020, during the coronavirus outbreak. (Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

More than 44 million Americans have filed for unemployment in just 12 weeks. The shock of the pandemic to the economy is still being felt. We bring back two finance experts to talk about personal finances in this troubled economy and how protests have forced businesses to act on racial justice.

Guests

Rana Foroohar, CNN global economic analyst. Financial Times global business columnist and associate editor. Author of “ Don’t Be Evil” and “ Makers and Takers.” ( @RanaForoohar)

Michelle Singletary, Washington Post personal finance columnist. Her column “The Color of Money” is syndicated in newspapers across the country. Author of “ The 21 Day Financial Fast.” ( @SingletaryM)

From The Reading List

Financial Times: “ Black Lives Matter is about both race and class” — “The death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter marches that have followed have made headlines the world over.”

Washington Post: “ Coronavirus could widen black wealth gap” — “My grandmother Big Mama hated that I was a renter.”

New York Times: “ Sobering Jobs Outlook: ‘We’re Expecting a Long Haul’” — “Although workers have begun returning to restaurants, retailers and other businesses hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, layoffs are seeping through sections of the job market that previously escaped major damage.”

Financial Times: “ US big business gets help first but who needs it most?” — “The economic devastation wrought by Covid-19 is already far more severe than the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. But it is easy to mistake the Washington policy conversations around one crisis for the other.”

Washington Post: “ The pandemic hasn’t stopped celebrations. But it has curtailed the big spending.” — “The pandemic and the resulting shutdowns have helped people get creative about their celebrations.”

New York Times: “ The U.S. Entered a Recession in February” — “The United States economy officially entered a recession in February 2020, the committee that calls downturns announced on Monday, bringing the longest expansion on record to an end as the coronavirus pandemic caused economic activity to slow sharply.”

Forbes: “ Companies Taking A Public Stand In The Wake Of George Floyd’s Death” — “Numerous companies have made public statements against racism and injustice and announced donations and other displays of support since the death of George Floyd unleashed protests across the United States starting on May 26th.”

New York Times: “ Corporate Voices Get Behind ‘Black Lives Matter’ Cause” — “As tensions flared around the country after George Floyd’s death under a policeman’s knee, protesters received support from an unexpected corner: corporate America.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.