The stimulus packages that have passed since the start of 2020 have had all sorts of effects on the lives of Americans. A University of Michigan study earlier this month found that the stimulus from the December 2020 relief package and the March 2021 stimulus have significantly reduced financial hardship, especially among the poorest Americans.

There have also been economic effects, with the economy adding jobs each month, although sometimes not quite up to expectations. And the unusual economic conditions have also led to some unusual shortages-as well as some worries about inflation.

The CEO of Bank of America laid out more of what’s going on in the economy this past weekend in an appearance on CBS’ Sunday morning show “Face the Nation.”

"Spending is up dramatically," BofA CEO Brian Moynihan said on the show. "Car rentals, hotels for leisure, travel, not business travel yet – that will probably be late this fall – is strong, theme park bookings and things like that.”

"Those are all very good signs," Moynihan also said. "It's shifting from buying food in the store to more people going to sit-down restaurants, even have a quick-service restaurant. So you're seeing that natural behavior.”

The bank CEO also said on the show that Americans are also sitting on lots of cash.

"Our consumers have lots of money in their checking accounts," Moynihan said. “We think they have not spent 65-70 percent of the last couple rounds of stimulus.”

"Companies have unused lines in their spending by our consumer, which is a trillion for so far this year is up 20 percent over 2019 and obviously a lot over 2020. What that really tells you is that you’re seeing a 10 percent growth rate, which is a faster growth rate on a bigger amount.”

He also predicted that the unemployment rate will reach down into the “low-to-mid 4s” by the end of the year. The current rate is 5.8 percent, as of the number for April.

Moynihan was also asked about cyberattacks that have recently affected the Colonial Pipeline, the meat industry, and other sectors.

“In the financial service industry, this has been an issue for many years,” the CEO said in the CBS interview. “I spent time on it, but frankly the good news is we have a great team. And our spending a year has gone from maybe 4, 500 million a year when I first became CEO a little over a decade ago, to a billion dollars a year- 2000-plus people work on it. We work in deep cooperation with the rest of the institutions in our industry.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.