Stimulation of consumption: Necessary to prevent poverty, but not from a macroeconomic viewpoint

We will illustrate our analysis with the cases of the euro zone and France. There are often calls for additional stimulation of household consumption, sometimes in original forms (consumption vouchers to buy local food products). This support is necessary because many people (holders of short-term employment contracts, temporary workers, intermittent workers , young people, employees in sectors in difficulty) are struggling as a result of the COVID crisis. But it is not necessary from a macroeconomic viewpoint, since household income has barely been affected by the crisis and since households have accumulated very large forced savings. What is necessary from a macroeconomic viewpoint is to support companies to prevent a marked deterioration in their balance sheets and a lasting decline in investment.