After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemi

 After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemi

c, the federal government poured trillions of dollars into the economy while it was harder for people to go out and spend money. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies and related assets ballooned. Coincidence? A new study says no. Infusions of money in a local area from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in a given week were associated with more Google searches in that area for crypto-related words. Likewise, at the national level, PPP disbursements in a given week were associated with higher crypto trading volume and the creation of more crypto wallets.

Bertomeu, J. et al., “Uncle Sam’s Stimulus and Crypto Boom,” Washington University in St. Louis (January 2023).

Build back better

Economics professors at the University of Chicago note that productivity in the construction business “has been unusually awful for 50 years.” From 1970 to 2020, labor productivity in the manufacturing sector increased nine-fold, but in construction the value added per worker declined by about 40 percent. Economists are puzzled as to why this is; trends in the costs of labor and capital don’t offer an explanation. Furthermore, states with more productive construction sectors have not been rewarded with a greater share of nationwide construction activity. “If anything,” the economists write, “resources seem to move away from the more productive states.”