Betty Liu Explains: What is the CARES Act?

Betty Liu Explains: What is the CARES Act? | Economic Stimulus | Money In :60 | GZERO Media

What is the CARES Act? So, you've been hearing a lot about this, the CARES Act, that's basically relief that is aimed at helping American individuals, families, small businesses that have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. It entails a $2 trillion aid package that does many things, including offering loans to small businesses, extending the unemployment insurance program and even direct payments to American taxpayers, among other things.

If it works as expected, how will the stimulus package impact the economy?

So, the package, as you imagine, is designed to inject trillions of dollars into the economy. That's to the benefit of the American worker, the families that have been affected. And also, as I mentioned, the small businesses, a detailed analysis is not yet available on the impact. It's hard to quantify whether this is going to work. The Congressional Budget Office should be doing some analysis, but we have yet to have any details on that.

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down how the US and China are both betting their futures on massive infrastructure booms, with China building cities and railways while America builds data centers and grid updates for AI. But are they building too much, too fast?

Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

$1 trillion: Tesla shareholders approved a $1-trillion pay package for owner Elon Musk, a move that is set to make him the world’s first trillionaire – if the company meets certain targets. The pay will come in the form of stocks.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz walk after a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil, on November 7, 2025.
REUTERS/Adriano Machado

When it comes to global warming, the hottest ticket in the world right now is for the COP30 conference, which runs for the next week in Brazil. But with world leaders putting climate lower on the agenda, what can the conference achieve?