Bailouts are back, thanks to coronavirus. Now they must help people, not corporations | Zoe Williams

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State aid will keep many businesses afloat, and if the right conditions are attached it could transform society

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As Easyjet grounds its flights and Richard Branson asks his considerable airline workforce to take eight weeks of unpaid leave, it is plain that the state will soon step in.

Rudimentary details of such action are already out there: workers furloughed rather than fired, with the government paying 80% of their wages. This, rather than putting money directly into the hands of the individual, makes sense: it will be better for any economic recovery if people with jobs keep them, if companies don’t go bust.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3bJra7L

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