Seems to me that the better way to keep businesses going would be something like an initially-interest-free loan.
(I'm just spitballin', here, so if this is a bad plan, but can be adjusted in some way to make it better, please let me know what the adjustment should be.)
Let's say that you own a restaurant with 40 employees, some of whom are part-time, and the crisis means you're shut down for an unknown number of months.
Each month that the shut-down is in place, you're eligible for a loan equal to no more than your monthly payroll expenses plus your monthly fixed expenses. That loan must be paid back in 1-5 years. If you pay it back completely in the first year, you owe 0% interest; for whatever balance remains into the second year, you owe 1% interest; for whatever balance remains into the third year, 2% interest, etc.
That, it seems to me, would take most of the impact of the crisis and spread it out over a year with no cost to the business owner; or over two years with little cost; or more years with slightly more cost. In that sense, the strategy is similar to what we're doing about the virus itself: Flattening the curve, spreading the damage out over enough time that the system doesn't break down.
Like I said before: I'm spitballin'. That's probably the "bad version of the plan." Adjustments could be made, perhaps, to produce the "good version."
Thoughts?
