MONEY+LIFE
Amazon’s “Making the Cut” and Netflix’s “Next in
Fashion” fall short, Kelly Lawler writes. Page 5B‘Project Runway’ copycats are
looking more like knock-offs
USA TODAY | MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020 | SECTION BBiggest large-cap stock price
increases (by percentage) for
week ending April 3.
Cdn Nat Res................................ 40.0%
Suncor Energy........................... 38.4%
Imperial Oil Ltd .......................... 26.7%
Equinor ASA ADR....................... 18.3%
Moderna Inc................................ 15.9%
Agnico Eagle Mines .................. 15.2%
Energy Transfer L.P................... 14.7%
Cheniere EngyPtrsLP................ 14.6%
Suzaon Papele Celu.................. 14.2%
Incyte Corp................................. 14.0%ASSOCIATED PRESS
Top movers
USA TODAY SNAPSHOTS ©With seven vaguely written words
in the $2 trillion federal stimulus law,
Congress carved out a special provi-
sion for Boeing, one of the nation’s
largest manufacturers.
Boeing isn’t mentioned by name in
the 880-page bill. But the aerospace
giant will qualify for as much as $17 bil-
lion in taxpayer relief through this lan-
guage threaded into the fourth para-
graph of Page 513 of the CARES Act:
“businesses critical to maintaining the
national security.”
Does Boeing need or deserve tax-
payer help?
To critics, the answer is a sharp no.
They note that the company is sitting
on $24 billion in cash and has been the
source of severe criticism for its ac-
tions in the 737 Max crisis, which was
dragging down the company well be-
fore the novel coronavirus pandemic.
But supporters counter that the aid
may be necessary to
prevent Boeing from
faltering and setting off
crushing job cuts across
the company and its
vast supplier network –
and to maintain its role
in national defense as a
major military contrac-
tor. Boeing had about 161,100 employ-
ees as of Dec. 31.
Critics of a bailout include former
United States Ambassador to the Unit-
ed Nations and former South Carolina
Gov. Nikki Haley, who resigned from
Boeing’s board in protest.
“While I know cash is tight, that is
equally true for numerous other indus-
tries and for millions of small busi-
nesses,” Haley said in her resignation
letter. “I cannot support a move to lean
on the federal government for a stimu-
lus or bailout that prioritizes our com-
pany over others and relies on taxpay-
ers to guarantee our financial position.
I have long held strong convictions
that this is not the role of government.”
Haley declined to comment further
for this story.
President Donald Trump, however,
has gone from criticizing Boeing in
January as a “disappointing” company
- and targeting the company even be-
fore he was inaugurated over the cost
of Air Force One planes – to supporting
the company’s bailout, saying it’s criti-
cal to “protect” it.
Asked on March 26 whether it was
appropriate to give Boeing billions of
dollars from the recovery package,
Trump said the airline business is “a
very tough business” that must be kept
alive.
Trump said, “maybe we’ll take a
piece of the airlines for the country” as
part of their bailouts. It was not imme-
Boeing
might not
need a
bailout
Critics say firm has
cash; others say it’s vital
Nathan Bomey, Brent Schrotenboer
and Joey Garrison
USA TODAY
See BOEING, Page 2B
Haley
About 7 o’clock Tuesday night, Golden E Dairy got
the call that any dairy farmer would dread. They were
being asked to dump 25,000 gallons of fresh milk a day
because there was no place for it to go as the market-
place for dairy products has been gutted by the closure
of restaurants, schools, hotels and food service busi-
nesses.
An hour later, the family-run farm near West Bend,
Wisconsin, opened the spigot and started flushing its
milk into a wastewater lagoon — 220,000 pounds a
day through next Monday.
It was surreal, said Ryan Elbe, whose parents, Chris
and Tracey Elbe, started the farm in 1991 with about 80
cows and grew it into an operation that today milks
2,400.
“We thought this would never happen,” Elbe said.
“Everybody’s rushing to the grocery store to get food,
and we have food that’s literally being dumped down
the drain.”
But the Wisconsin dairy industry has been dealt a
harsh blow from the economy that’s been slammed by
coronavirus shutdowns. About one-third of the state’s
dairy products, mostly cheese, are sold in the food ser-
vice trade.
Dairy farmers, whose product is highly perishable,
are seeing processing plants close or curb production,
forcing them to flush their milk down the drain if
there’s no other buyer.
“I think that a lot of milk will all of a sudden be
dumped. Everyone across the industry is feeling dis-
tressed now,” said Julie Sweney, spokeswoman for
FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative in Madison.
“Over the last several hours I have heard this is un-
folding. There is definitely a strain on markets now.Ryan Elbe, left, and his father, Chris, talk while fresh milk gushes down a drain Wednesday at the Elbe family’s Golden E
Dairy near West Bend, Wis. The farm is forced to dump 25,000 gallons a day. MARK HOFFMAN/USA TODAY NETWORKFarmers dump milk
as virus slams industry
The already fragile dairy economy, including Golden E Dairy, has
been slammed by the coronavirus crisis. GOLDEN E DAIRY FARMAs a rush on milk slows, closures
mean demand is down to a trickle
Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAYSee DAIRY, Page 2BWhat to do with a $1,200 “check”
from Uncle Sam? Why, invest it, of
course.
Stimulus checks have been tried
before. The idea is, during times of
economic stress, money placed in con-
sumers’ pockets will spark demand as
money is recirculated in the economy.
Dolly Levi, the matchmaker in “Hello,
Dolly!” expressed the sentiment well
when she said: “Money, pardon the ex-
pression, is like manure. It’s not worth
a thing unless it’s spread around, en-
couraging young things to grow.”
But my good friend, Dr. Arthur B.
Laffer, who knows a few things about
economics, disagrees. “There is notooth fairy,” Laffer writes. “Every dollar
given to someone comes from someone
else.” His point is that the government
can’t create resources, it can only trans-
fer them from one person to another.
So, if the government sends a $1,
check to individuals and $2,400 to mar-
ried couples, the government needs to
borrow that money from someone else,
creating a future liability for taxpayerswho, after all, fund the government.
Further dampening the hoped-for
positive effects of stimulus checks is
that many Americans actually end up
saving the money rather than spend it.
In 2001, for example, the government
sent “tax rebates” of $300 to $600 to ap-
proximately two-thirds of U.S. house-
holds over a 10-week period. The Na-
tional Bureau of Economic Research
surveyed a representative sample of
U.S. households during the distribution
period.
What did they find? Only 22% said
they would spend the money. Presum-
ably, the rest planned to save it. Oh.
So, let’s say you are fortunate enough
to receive a $1,200 check – what shouldInvesting stimulus check may pay off
Nancy Tengler
Special to USA TODAY
“There is no tooth fairy.Every dollar given to
someone comes from
someone else.”
Arthur B. Laffer, economistSee STIMULUS, Page 2B