Unless you've been under a rock, you know that a huge part of the US economy has been shut down by shelter in place orders in nearly every state. The idea behind this is to limit human interactions, which then at least theoretically limits the transmission of the novel coronavirus. It makes sense, at least in theory.

But what are the costs? And how do we make fiscal policy--both in Congress and at the Federal Reserve--that minimizes the long term damage of shutting down.

The purpose of this discussion isn't to debate whether the economy should shut down, how long it should remain shut down, or whether the economic cost is worth the public health benefits. The purpose is to discuss how to anticipate and mitigate the economic damage that the shutdown has caused and will continue to cause.