Morning Distribution for Wednesday, April 27, 2022

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Morning Distribution]( Wednesday, April 27, 2022 Your daily briefing from FiveThirtyEight --------------------------------------------------------------- The Morning Story [A picture of a USA government check]( [Were The Stimulus Checks A Mistake?]( By [Santul Nerkar]( and [Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux]( It wasn’t long ago that the U.S. economy needed a shot in the arm. Millions of Americans had [lost their jobs]( as the country shut itself down to slow the spread of a deadly virus. At the time, policymakers, advocates and economists agreed that Americans needed immediate relief — and so they quickly acted on it. Lawmakers passed a [$2.2-trillion]( stimulus [package]( in March 2020, followed by two more installments of COVID-19 relief later in 2020 and then again in 2021. In total, it added up to [one of the most generous fiscal responses to the virus]( globally. There would be a catch, though. As U.S. prices continue to rise by rates not seen in decades, it’s become clear that the stimulus came at a significant, unintended cost: inflation. It’s unclear whether inflation [has reached its peak]( but the situation is now economically and politically toxic, and it has left many of the same policymakers, advocates and economists now asking whether the stimulus checks were a mistake. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: Our First 2024 GOP Primary Draft]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.