Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman joins the On The Move to break down the specifics of the stimulus bill. Newman also dives into what it could mean for the economy and Americans overall.

Video Transcript

- But let's talk more about what exactly is in that bill, what it's going to mean for you, what it's going to mean for the US economy. Rick Newman has been tracking that for us. So Rick, there's stuff for individuals, there's stuff for small businesses, there's stuff for big businesses. What do you think is sort of the most significant piece of this or achievement in it?

RICK NEWMAN: Well, it's an 880-page bill, and I confess I have not read the whole bill. But we're getting some analysis of what's in it. We have a running tally of what's in this bill at YahooFinance.com as we figure it out. But I think the real challenge here was to make this a Main Street bailout, as opposed to the so-called Wall Street bailout from 2008 and 2009. And to my mind, they actually did a pretty good job of that. So I'll just go through some of the provisions that we know of in here.

So there are going to be checks of $1,200 per person, with an income limit of-- I think that limit is $75,000. The expansion in unemployment insurance is significant. So it's-- on top of what states already offer, it's an extra $600 per week. So $2,400 per month. That is not too bad. And there's a provision in here that includes independent contractors, gig workers, Uber drivers and people like that, and also the self-employed, who ordinarily would not qualify for unemployment insurance.

And then with regard to all the aid to businesses, it's basically broken out in three tranches-- small businesses, medium business, and big corporate entities. And at each level, there are provisions that are strong incentives for those businesses to keep-- either keep people on the payroll or bring those people back at some point in time.

For example, for small businesses, you can get loans from the government, low-interest loans, but if you can demonstrate that you keep your employment levels where they were before the crisis, those turn into grants. So you get free money if you keep everybody employed. There's a lot more in this bill, and we're going to be talking about this for days, but that's sort of my first take on it.

- Hey, Rick, it's Dan here. I'm wondering whether you've been able to tell yet whether and to what extent cruise lines are included in this. Obviously, that was a controversy, and the average person, or sort of the general public, the tone and temperature was that no one really wanted to see cruises included here. As I understand it, or I saw rumors at least of this, they are going to be included, but maybe not by name. And maybe that was strategic.

RICK NEWMAN: That's probably right. Remember, a lot of cruise lines that operate in the United States and serve US ports are not American companies. They're overseas. Now, there are a couple that are US companies. I think Carnival is actually headquartered in Miami. So the big call-out in here for an industry-specific bailout is for the airline industry, and also the cargo airlines. But I think that leaves a lot of room for any other company to sort of step up for aid under different provisions. And some of these are going to be administered through the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.

There's-- you know, along the lines of cruise lines, there also are no bailouts in here specifically for auto makers. And of course, GM and Chrysler do not want to come back to the trough a second time, but they're going to really get hurt because they've essentially shut down production. So I think there are going to be a lot of companies across the board that are going to be asking or applying for aid under provisions that give the Treasury Department and the Fed a lot of discretion to decide who qualifies.

- Hey, Rick, I want to see what you think the long-term ramifications of this bill are. I mean, this is $2 trillion, the largest in US history. Is it something that we'll be talking about, you know, years and years down the line, similar to a New Deal or something like that? Or is this something that is just more of an at the moment, in our moment kind of endeavor?

RICK NEWMAN: It's a huge deal. I mean, the 2009 stimulus package was less than half of this size, and economists studied that for a long time. And that debate actually continues, did the stimulus-- did that stimulus work, or did it not work. And of course, it all depends on what's your threshold for success.

I think a really important thing for people to know is this is not going to do a lot to help the economy in the next couple of months. And in reality, some economists are saying the worse the economic numbers look for the second quarter, the better off we might be, because we need to just stop economic activity to contain the virus. So I think the idea here is the next couple of months are almost a write-off. It's just going to be as bad as anybody can imagine, and maybe worse.

But this stimulus plan is designed to really help people in the transition period. So when we're-- let's hope we're coming out of a V, so when we're bouncing off the V but before anything is back to normal, that's when a lot of these loans to businesses will help. And of course, you know, enhanced unemployment insurance and some of the checks going out to people, that is supposed to help right away. So you know, that's something to help people pay rent and put food on the table.

- Right. As Rich Lesser from Boston Consulting was just telling us, it's not necessarily about stimulus right now, it's about survival. Thanks, Rick.