How long will the COVID recession last?

A lot of pieces look like they're in place for a quick recovery -- in the U.S., at least.

"Green shoots" by shellac, CC BY 2.0

When the pandemic first hit, I was incredibly pessimistic about the U.S. economy. The unemployment rate was absolutely enormous. We didn’t know how long the pandemic would last or how bad it would be. It wasn’t clear how effective the government’s relief programs would be, or whether they would be followed up. It wasn…