The Indicator From Planet Money: Small Businesses On Their Own

Congress passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act last month. Part of the act was designed to help small businesses, by offering loans of up to $2 million, to keep their heads above water while the economic shutdown continues. Or that was the idea, at least. It turns out that the $350 billion dollars in aid directed to small and medium-sized enterprises isn't getting to many of them. When it has arrived, it's been in much smaller amounts than advertised. And today we learned the money has run out, leaving a disturbing number of small businesses on the brink of ruin.