Could another round of stimulus checks help soaring inflation in the United States, or would it further increase the cost of basic items, making it harder for people to survive?
Experts are on both sides of the argument.
Some experts, like Elaine Maag, a senior research fellow at the Tax Policy Center, believe that another round of direct stimulus check payments to families would help Americans struggling with inflation costs – the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said stimulus payments from the last two years kept 11 million Americans from falling into poverty.
By March 2022, consumer prices rose 8.5% — the highest amount since 1981, Yahoo reported.
“Delivering some sort of cash benefit now would sort of protecting them from the inflation that’s happening around them,” Maag told Changing America.
Other experts have argued that by the end of 2021, stimulus checks and the trillions of dollars used to keep the economy afloat during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic added about 3% to the U.S. inflation rate, according to Yahoo.
Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, said he thinks that stimulus payments were a “very, very minor factor” towards the country’s inflation rates.
Andrew Yang’s Thoughts On Stimulus Checks
“Money in people’s hands for a couple of months last year – in my mind – was a very, very minor factor, in that most of that money has long since been spent and yet you see inflation continue to rise,” Yang said in an interview with CNBC.
Despite millions of Americans signing a petition calling for $2,000 stimulus checks for adults and $1,000 checks for children, Congress has not given any indication that another round of stimulus checks is on the horizon.
Since Congress isn’t planning to act, some states have taken things into their own hands by providing relief for residents.
California residents are set up to receive up to $400 for each car they own, up to two vehicles; Hawaii is issuing $300 to residents who make $100,000 or less annually and $100 to those who earn more than $100,000.
Colorado plans to spend $400 to taxpayers by September, Delaware residents are getting $300, and in Georgia, single filers will receive $250, heads of households will receive $375, and joint filers will receive $500, according to AL.com.
