THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION REPORT. Europe in a period of transition

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 64 which included a significant element with immediate budgetary impact, focused on public health, including resources for the vaccination programme, and support for families, communities and companies. It expanded unemployment support, strengthened direct payments to families, and provided direct support to state and local administrations, while also increasing funding to help schools reopen. The total fiscal package mobilised by the United States amounts to approximately 5 trillion dollars, in- cluding both direct spending and liquidity support meas- ures. By comparison, the Obama stimulus in 2009-2010 following the financial crisis, was worth 831 billion dol- lars. Another way of illustrating the scale of this effort is to note that the United States’ fiscal spending in 2020 represented 45 per cent of all additional spending by G20 countries, although the country only accounts for 27 per cent of total G20 GDP (Van Eijkelenburg and Nauta, 2020). However, comparisons based solely on volume should be treated with some caution, as elements such as access to funding or the size of theWelfare State determine the different fiscal responses in each country. In the case of the US, the stimulus focused on supporting the business sector, primarily through support to small companies to maintain employment. The provision of social assistance, through direct payments to individuals and families, was also important, and this was complemented by unem- ployment benefits and support for the educational and early years systems. Spending on the health system was also significant. According to the IMF, this represented 3.3 per cent of GDP. Federal spending provided additional support to state and local governments to guarantee services and public employment (Siklos et al., 2021).When faced with economic crises, individual states have limited options, primarily because many of them are legally obliged to balance their budgets, and federal support is therefore essential when dealing with severe economic depression. The United States, the epitome of a liberal market economy, has a limited social safety net, flexible employ- ment policies, and economic policies that are skewed towards large corporations, with SMEs accounting for a relatively low share. Given the limited level of auto- matic coverage for workers and small and medium-sized companies, it should be no surprise that the huge fiscal effort focused primarily on emergency measures to pro- tect these sectors. Table 4: Stimulus packages approved in the United States 2020-2021 USD millions Approved Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act 8,300 March 2020 Families First Coronavirus Response Act 192,000 March 2020 CARES Act 2,000,000 March 2020 Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act 483,000 April 2020 Emergency Aid for Returning Americans Affected by Coronavirus Act 9 July 2020 Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act 900,000 December 2020 Total 2020 3,583,309 % GDP 2019 16.72 America Rescue Plan 1,900,000 March 2021 Total 2020 + 2021 5,483,309 % GDP 2020 26.20 Source: compiled by author.