The COVID-19 pandemic is precipitating an unprecedented economic downturn, and small businesses are likely to bear the brunt. Mandatory shutdowns and social distancing forced many small businesses to shut their doors. Even as governments begin lifting social distancing restrictions, the residual effects of unemployment and disrupted business operations will complicate the economic recovery of small businesses. The US government has taken some steps to lessen the damage to small businesses, but these steps impose large costs on taxpayers, and depending on how long the pandemic lasts, these steps may not be enough to keep many small businesses open.
Mercatus has proposed several policies that would help small businesses during the recovery, including, reducing the regulatory burden on existing business, allowing entrepreneurs to gain easier entry in the marketplace, and extending emergency credit to those in need.
Reviving small business is massively important to state and federal policymakers because how small businesses recover from this pandemic will likely determine the pace of the national economic recovery. The various Mercatus research angles could make for a great collaborative opportunity to work with major small business organizations like NFIB. Since our solutions could be implemented at the federal and state levels, the webinar could also attract a broad audience similar to our previous collaborative efforts.
Speakers:
Patrick McLaughlin, Senior Research Fellow and Director of Policy Analytics at the Mercatus Center
Adam Thierer, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center
Elizabeth Milito, Senior Executive Counsel at NFIB