MTA calls Trump’s decision to end Covid-19 stimulus talks ‘devastating’, American Airlines to cut flights, and more

The federal government's failure to approve another stimulus bill endangers economic recovery from the pandemic-inflicted recession, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston cautioned on Thursday, echoing a similar warning the Fed's top leader made days earlier.

In a virtual speech hosted by Marquette University, Boston Fed President and CEO Eric Rosengren described another round of emergency COVID-19 aid as "sorely needed" and said its absence could contribute to a "grinding recovery" from the national economic downturn.

American Airlines would be forced to discontinue service to additional U.S. markets in the absence of new coronavirus relief from Washington, CEO Doug Parker told CNBC on Thursday.

The airline has already cut service to 13 cities through the month of November, Parker pointed out on “Squawk Alley,” shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected the idea of a stand-alone aid package for airlines unless it was part of a broader stimulus measure.

New York‘s sprawling public transit system is in serious jeopardy now that negotiations over a new coronavirus stimulus package have come to an end, a top transit official said Tuesday.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States, Americans were ordered to stay home and restricted from travel to stem the spread of the virus.

The mandate weakened fuel demands as more cars sat idle and fewer planes took off, and led to an historic drop in price of oil never seen before. By April, about a month after the pandemic was in full force in the U.S., the price of domestic crude plummeted below $0 per barrel – the first time in history it had fallen into negative territory.

Lost in this week’s melodrama of Rose Garden superspreading, West Wing outbreaks, “Evita/Covita” balcony moments, vice presidential fly sightings and claims of miracle therapies was Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s desperate call for Congress to pass a “robust” stimulus package and not fret about “overdoing it.” “Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses,” he said Tuesday in prepared remarks to a meeting of business economists.

The bottom line? Failing to invest sufficiently right now would lead to a rash of “household insolvencies and business bankruptcies” that would further stagger the economy and hold back growth.