Economists who worked in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, including a former Treasury secretary, released a four-point plan that they believe will encourage a smooth economic recovery. The authors are Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama; Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Glenn Hubbard, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush; and Melissa Kearney, the director of the Economic Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute, which published the plan.

In short, the plan calls for measures in four areas:

1. Income support for the unemployed, underemployed and most vulnerable: (a) Continue increased federal unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits with a phase-down over time based on economic circumstances; (b) Employ automatic triggers for UI extended benefits; (c) Bolster short-time compensation (STC) benefits to preserve viable employment relationships; and (d) Increase automatically benefits provided through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and suspend SNAP work requirements during periods of high unemployment

2. Reward and facilitate work: Temporary, targeted employment subsidies for workers to reward and incentivize employment and compensate workers who have continued to work during the pandemic in the form of a pandemic Earned Income Tax Credit.

3. Lending support for small and midsize businesses: Monitor the Main Street Lending Program and its effect on small and mid-sized businesses; adjust the program if necessary to increase lender and borrower participation.

4. Federal support to state and local governments: (a) Provide a block grant for states and localities that cannot be used for tax cuts or pension increases; (b) Implement expansions in federal matching for state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that are adjusted automatically based on economic conditions;(c) Provide block grants to state governments for K-12 education spending; and (d) Extend federal block grants to public universities, four-year colleges, and community colleges.

The authors concede that implementing this program will carry a "considerable" cost, but just how considerable depends on the trajectory of the virus and the shape of the resultant economic recovery. If there is a rapid, V-shaped recovery with output and employment returning to trend by the second quarter of 2021, then these proposals would cost nearly $1 trillion.

If instead there is a long, slow recovery—despite vigorous fiscal policy—with an unemployment rate of 12 percent at the end of 2020 that falls by 1 percentage point per year thereafter, the total cost would be $2 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would formally “score” these proposals by looking across the probability distribution of all outcomes for this recession as well as future recessions and likely come up with an overall cost estimate around the top of this range,