Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that shutting down the economy for a second time to combat the spread of Covid-19 isn\u2019t a viable option and could cause even more headaches for Americans.<\/p>\n
His comments came as Wall Street grew more concerned about a second wave of coronavirus cases in the United States. Texas has reported three consecutive days of record-breaking Covid-19 hospitalizations while nine California counties are reporting a spike in new cases or hospitalizations of confirmed cases, AP reported Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t shut down the economy again. I think we\u2019ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you\u2019re going to create more damage,\u201d Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC\u2019s Jim Cramer on \u201cSquawk on the Street.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd not just economic damage, but there are other areas and we\u2019ve talked about this: medical problems and everything else that get put on hold,\u201d he added. \u201cI think it was very prudent what the president did, but I think we\u2019ve learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rise cases amid U.S. reopening efforts has made investors nervous that states may have to reimpose business closures to again try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. That pessimism contributed to the Dow Jones Industrial Average\u2019s 800 point slide Thursday morning and the S&P 500\u2032s 2.6% loss.<\/p>\n
Stocks that would benefit the most under a total U.S. reopening led the way lower, with United Airlines down 10%, cruise operator Carnival losing 8.8% and Gap shedding 6.6%.
\nMnuchin also said he\u2019s prepared to return to Congress to request additional fiscal spending to help juice the economy if needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the Fed program, we have Main Street [lending program], which is going to be now up and running, and we\u2019re prepared to go back to Congress for more money to support the American worker,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to get everybody back to work. That\u2019s my No. 1 job working with the president and we\u2019re going to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Democrats last month passed a $3.5 trillion stimulus bill known as the HEROES Act that would prolong jobless benefits through the end of 2020 and provide relief for cities and states that have seen a marked drop in tax revenues. Senate Republicans have opted for a wait-and-see approach and await more data, such as last Friday\u2019s better-than-expected jobs report, before voting to widen the federal deficit.<\/p>\n
The Democrats\u2019 bill would be in addition to the $2 trillion CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that shutting down the economy for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n