By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A survey of rural and small-town Midwest bankers says the government has helped them stay afloat during the pandemic.
"We asked the bankers about farm income in their area," said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss. "If you include the government support payments, the estimate is down just 1.5% from this time last year. We asked about whether the government programs like the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program were helping and about 39% said it was crucial to their economy."
Goss doesn't think another stimulus bill is necessary.
"I think we're going to move out of this recession," Goss said. "I think we've already moved out of the recession. We're just not back to pre-COVID levels. That's an economist's definition. Certainly, for businesses and individuals out there, they don't think we're out of a recession, but when you use the technical data, I think we'll ultimately find that quarter three numbers, the GDP numbers that will come out at the end of October and that's before the election, they're going to be pretty good."
Goss believes President Trump will trumpet those numbers in the final days in the run-up to the election.