What I've been hearing on the internet is that companies are racing to lay off as many people as they need to now, before applying for their free bailout money from the government. It also sounds like businesses are trying to lay off more than they actually need to lay off, in order to get the maximum benefit.<p>The terms of the bailout loans are such that they can lay off people before they apply, get the money, and so long as they don't lay off any additional people after they get the money, the loan converts into a grant (i.e., a free bailout from the Federal government).<p>My personal opinion is that giving free money to companies is a terrible idea, and they should just give helicopter money to individuals. Companies are going to engineer this to their maximum benefit, and the amount of money going to companies is much much greater than the amount going to individuals.<p>Interesting times we live in. It's important to ignore what people say, and instead focus on what they actually do.