Read on Twitter
A quick thread on race, PPP covid relief, and Chicago. TL/DR:
Yesterday, after dogged pressure from watchdogs and transparency advocates, the Department of Treasury released some data on the recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was designed to help weather the Covid storm. https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares-act/assistance-for-small-businesses/sba-paycheck-protection-program-loan-level-data">https://home.treasury.gov/policy-is...
(quick reminder icymi: the program gave loans to businesses that became grants if they used the money to keep employees on payroll This is a good way to do temp relief and not sever the network relationships that makes biz go.)
As has been widely reported, PPP was passed hastily, and the 45 admin sought to remove, ignore, or weaken oversight measures. It looked a lot like a $600b slush fund. This has rightfully gotten a lot of coverage. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/trump-on-usd500-billion-slush-fund-ill-be-the-oversight.html">https://nymag.com/intellige...
From the start, it was clear that the $$ wasn& #39;t all going to folks who needed it most. Some of the high-profile recipients (we see you, LA Lakers...MJ GOAT) The data release has revealed more irritating ironies and gross recipients of social insurance. https://www.wonkette.com/did-ayn-rand-and-grover-norquist-drown-their-ppp-moneys-in-the-bathtub-they-better-did">https://www.wonkette.com/did-ayn-r...
But there were over 600k recipients of the rapid-response program, so there were bound to be some errors, oversights, and con artists. But what about in general? _Where_ did the $$ go? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/15/americas-love-small-businesses-is-all-talk/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/...
I took a quick look at the ~6000 recipients from Chicago, and it& #39;s a frustratingly familiar story. The money flowed downtown, and to richer areas of the city. Here& #39;s a map showing each loan& #39;s address, with the bubbles indicating the size of the loan.
It makes sense that the central biz district gets a ton of loans--lots of firms and HQs, etc. But outside the Loop, we can see stark inequalities. Especially on the South Side, there are only a few per neighborhood, while there are dozens or hundreds up North.
This figure shows the total loans to each ZIP in the city (but outside the Loop/CBD) by % Black. (all Chi ZIPs start "60"; these are shortened so you can see em). The ZIPs that are <5% Black (c& #39;mon Chi, it& #39;s 2020) got about twice as much $$ as the +90%. About $30m more on average
There are "explanations" for this pattern, but they all fall back on a mix of decades of disinvestment and business-first program design.
Stats-y, the relationship is "actually" PPP~income/wealth, but that& #39;s a function of discrim past and present. I don& #39;t have biz info handy, so maybe it& #39;s distributed evenly across employers instead of space or people. Sure, but that& #39;s just lagged disinvestment in Black communities
Program design--funneled through banks, and based on first-come, first-serve application--also advantaged firms with specialized services, those who can pay someone else to get themselves paid. Harder for mom-and-pops, and harder in areas with fewer banks.
So scandals aside, this street-level bailout program probably EXACERBATED inequalities, because those who need it most are not situated to get the help. PPP is a good idea, but direct, generous aid to individuals is better, especially now that it& #39;s clear this isn& #39;t a 1-mo crisis
We have to do better for South Siders and similar spots across other cities, especially because these same communities are both bearing the brunt of the pandemic (and surely the econ crisis)... https://abc7chicago.com/coronavirus-tracking-map-zip-code-illinois-chicago/6087815/">https://abc7chicago.com/coronavir...
...AND leading the prophetic revolution to save our collective future RIGHT NOW. (what a summer; Please give) https://www.byp100.org/ ">https://www.byp100.org/">... @byp100
Other countries didn& #39;t seem to have as hard a time doing this as us, another reminder that our leaders, policy patterns, and federalism are all making it harder to manage this crisis and costing lives by the day (basta, 2020). @ad_quig @natalieymoore @CDPatNU @UWFIllinois
