economists call the paradox of thrift: When the economy’s lousy, nobody spends money because it feels risky, and that makes the economy worse. That's the whole premise behind an economic stimulus: When the gears of the economy grind to the halt, the federal government pours on the oil.





Mayor’s Economic Recovery and Stimulus Task Force, the entity charged with helping local businesses survive the coronavirus shutdown and then, eventually, rebuild the economy.





"We could do the same thing within the parking system," Cooley says. "There's a lot of places where we could quickly put to work to help the parking system downtown, enhance retail, enhance some of the hard-hit industries."

and the first case of COVID-19 had yet to be diagnosed, Gavin Cooley — the city of Spokane's outgoing chief financial officer — floated a counterintuitive idea.“What if, when we hit a recession, and everyone starts getting laid off, the city of Spokane doubles down on road construction?” Cooley said back then during aninterview.After all, recessions fall prey to whatSo instead of merely tightening the city’s belt when the economy gets hammered by a recession, Cooley proposed doing the opposite:the time, he said, to pour money into investing in Spokane.It turned out he'd get the opportunity sooner than he predicted: Today, Cooley is leading theBut he’s writing the same prescription: Invest in permanent improvements, taking advantage of lower construction costs and boosting the local economy simultaneously.“This is a time when we then can be forward-thinking instead of hunkering down,” Cooley says. Don't slow down on street projects — accelerate them, giving a boost to the ailing construction industry.