The strain in financial markets has eased, thanks to the actions of Congress, Executive agencies, central banks, and other private and public institutions around the world. The profound economic disruption of the pandemic containment measures persists, and households and businesses are still deeply affected.
Financial institutions now have an essential part to play in addressing that disruption—as a bridge between the start of this crisis and the completion of our economic recovery. There are many differences between the current crisis and the one we faced a decade ago. The most fundamental, however, is the origin of the stress.