America Needs a Reality Check, Not a Fourth Stimulus Check, Professor Says

America Needs a Reality Check, Not a Fourth Stimulus Check, Professor Says

While many Americans remain in favor of further payments, future stimulus proposals have gained an increasing number of detractors as well.

Nearly four months after the last round of stimulus payments was sent out, it is becoming clear that the checks have their proponents. Surveys have indicated that roughly two-thirds of American voters would favor another round of payments, and nine in ten indicated that the last three rounds of stimulus checks had made a visible difference in their economic outlook. A Change.org petition calling for future recurring stimulus checks has accrued more than 2.5 million signatures since March 2020.

However, while many Americans remain in favor of further payments, future stimulus proposals have gained an increasing number of detractors as well. In an interview with Fox Business, Brian Brenberg, professor at the King’s College in Manhattan, described the belief that a fourth stimulus check would be passed by the Biden administration as “detached from reality.”

Brenberg emphasized that while 2.5 million Americans had signed the petition for stimulus aid, more than nine million jobs were open in the United States that stimulus advocates could fill. “Thankfully,” he continued, “we’re not governed by the two-and-a-half million people who sign Change.org petitions.”

Brenberg’s critical stance towards a fourth stimulus measure, and those who want it, is probably not common in the electorate. Most Americans would not be viscerally opposed to a fourth round of stimulus checks. However, there is an increasing awareness that a fourth round of checks, while convenient, might not be necessary – and would certainly involve a massive spending commitment from Congress, which is busy negotiating a smaller infrastructure bill.

Stimulus check advocates were hopeful after the April jobs report revealed that the U.S. economy was not recovering quickly; they argued that a fourth round of checks could stimulate spending and pull America out of the COVID-19 financial slump. The May and June reports, though, have been more optimistic; unemployment is now at 5.9 percent, down from nearly 15 percent at the height of the pandemic.

Another argument in favor of a fourth stimulus measure cites public safety concerns, noting that many Americans have not been vaccinated. However, vaccines have been widely available for months, and there is substantial evidence that they are effective at preventing both COVID-19 and its Delta variant. While some vaccinated Americans have been infected, hospitalization rates for this group have been very low – and, per the CDC, more than two-thirds of American adults have received at least one dose of vaccine. For those who had, the conception is that it is time to return to work.

Or, as Brenberg put it, “You can get a vaccine, you can get a job, you can go to work, you can earn your paycheck. That’s your stimulus.”

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for The National Interest.

Image: Reuters