The fiscal response has now ended. The "cliff" was at the end of July but given that most households saved a lot in the spring & had healthier balance sheets than pre-crisis they have some ability to smooth. So I would not expect bad macro impacts until Sep or Oct.

Further action is needed. We're still in a bad recession. State/local job creation has been weak/negative in recent months & will get worse without aid. And households will run through their cushions soon, consumption growth will start to slow, and that will take a toll on jobs.

Action should be based on circumstances. The $600 a week boost to weekly unemployment checks may have made sense when the economy has shutdown but with an UR of 8.4% it should change. The President's $400 is reasonable--but the Senate needs to actually pass it for it to be real.

A lot has gone wrong in the response to COVID. I would have done things differently in economic policy too. But overall the massive response from the Federal Reserve and even more importantly from Congress has been working and should be continued as long as needed.