Public funds should be distributed publicly and democratically. Research may help.
A sophisticated analysis by academic researchers found that the PPP had very little effect on unemployment and at a large cost. “Paycheck Protection Program loans increased employment at small businesses by only 2%, implying a cost of $377,000 per job saved,” concluded a team from the Opportunity Insights Team. They suggested that instead of programs like the PPP, stronger social insurance such as extended or expanded unemployment benefits would have likely helped more in curbing unemployment and hardship experienced by workers with low incomes. Addressing the health crisis by investing in public health, the authors argued, was imperative.
Maybe providing assistance to many workers would be better than assisting far fewer business owners?