When Shutdowns Meet Stimulus In 2020, government-mandated lockdowns shuttered businesses and halted economic output in the name of public health. “Fifteen days to slow the spread” stretched into months, with some states extending restrictions beyond a year. Recognizing the economic damage, Washington responded by sending cash—stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment, and broad business subsidies. While the intention was to provide temporary relief, the result was a simultaneous contraction in productivity and a surge in consumer demand, all backed by borrowed or printed money. Goods and services shrank. Money chasing those goods increased. The textbook result? Inflation. And while pandemic response played a visible role, the deeper engine of inflation, as this period revealed, is structural. The Cost of Big Government in…
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