With the economy in decline and the deficit rising sharply due to several major coronavirus relief bills, a growing chorus of voices is asking how we will pay for the policies that were enacted and arguing that further actions should be curtailed. William Gale explains that the costs of curtailing stimulus money would far outweigh the benefits.

Those who have seen discrediting media, science, and government as a useful political strategy have spent decades eroding those key institutions. But this strategy has catastrophic consequences when those very institutions are critical to protecting public health and saving lives, argue Marc Hetherington and Jonathan Ladd.

COVID-19 is making President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran acutely painful. Ali Fathollah-Nejad and Amin Naeni write about Tehran’s efforts to reduce the pressure of sanctions during the pandemic and improve Iran’s international position.