Will Trump’s Covid-19 Bailout Help Wall Street Before Main Street?

FEATURING CHUCK COLLINS – As President Trump declares a National Emergency over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and readies a bipartisan aid package to provide relief, the big question arises: will the government once more prioritize help for the wealthiest individuals and institutions over the needs of the public?

Author Naomi Klein termed it “the Shock Doctrine.” If past crises are any indication, it is to be expected that the corporate stranglehold of our political system will ensure that banks and profitable industries will weather the Covid-19 storm even as ordinary American lose jobs and homes and accrue unsustainable debt.

Chuck Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He has written a number of books including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It, and Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good.