Wow.

US Covid fiscal response outpaces New Deal

Even without the proposed infrastructure package, the 2020/21 COVID cumulative response is extraordinary at over 5 times the size of the FDR 1930’s New Deal in 2020 dollars, and double the New Deal on a per capita basis. However, because GDP was so much smaller in the 1930s, the New Deal ultimately totaled some 40% of GDP, close to double the Trump and Biden COVID packages. The New Deal was spread out over a 6+ year period though.

In terms of output gaps, the 1930s saw one 10 times larger than the current c.3%. So relative to the respective output gaps, the fiscal injections today look much more aggressive than that seen nearly 90 years ago.