Many business sectors and households face an unprecedented loss of income in the current COVID-19 recession, triggering financial distress, separations, and bankruptcy. Rather than stimulating demand, government policy's main aim should be to provide insurance to firms and workers to avoid undue scarring that will hamper a recovery once the pandemic is past. We develop a corporate finance framework to guide interventions in credit markets to avoid such scarring. We emphasize three main results. First, policy should inject liquidity into small and medium-sized firms that are liquidity constrained and for which social costs of bankruptcy are high. Second, large firms for whom solvency is the dominant issue require a more nuanced approach. Debt overhang creates a distortion, leading these firms to fire workers, forgo expenditures that maintain enterprise value, and delay filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy longer than is socially efficient. Government resources toward reducing the legal and financial costs of bankruptcy are unambiguously beneficial. Policies that reduce funding costs are only socially desirable if the pandemic is expected to be short-lived and if bankruptcy costs are high. Last, transfers necessary to avoid bankruptcy allow borrowers to continue paying their mortgages or credit card bills and ultimately benefit owners of assets such as real estate or credit card receivables. Taxes to fund transfers should be raised from these asset owners.

在当前的COVID-19衰退中，许多商业部门和家庭都面临着前所未有的收入损失，引发了财务困境，分居和破产。政府政策的主要目的不是刺激需求，而是为企业和工人提供保险，以避免不必要的疤痕，一旦疤痕大流行，疤痕就会阻碍复苏。我们制定了公司融资框架，以指导对信贷市场的干预，以免产生疤痕。我们强调三个主要结果。首先，政策应向流动性受限且破产的社会成本较高的中小型企业注入流动性。其次，对于以偿付能力为主要问题的大公司，需要采取更为细致入微的方法。债务过剩造成扭曲，导致这些公司解雇工人，放弃维持企业价值的支出，并且延迟申请第11章破产的时间比提高社会效率的时间更长。政府用于减少破产的法律和财务成本的资源无疑是有益的。如果预计这种大流行是短暂的并且破产成本很高，那么减少资金成本的政策在社会上才是合乎需要的。最后，为避免破产而进行的必要转移使借款人能够继续支付抵押或信用卡账单，并最终使诸如房地产或信用卡应收款之类的资产所有者受益。应从这些资产所有者那里筹集资金转移税。政府用于减少破产的法律和财务成本的资源无疑是有益的。如果预计这种大流行是短暂的并且破产成本很高，那么减少资金成本的政策在社会上才是合乎需要的。最后，为避免破产而进行的必要转移使借款人能够继续支付抵押或信用卡账单，并最终使诸如房地产或信用卡应收款之类的资产所有者受益。应从这些资产所有者那里筹集资金转移税。政府用于减少破产的法律和财务成本的资源无疑是有益的。如果预计这种大流行是短暂的并且破产成本很高，那么减少资金成本的政策在社会上才是合乎需要的。最后，为避免破产而进行的必要转移使借款人能够继续支付抵押或信用卡账单，并最终使诸如房地产或信用卡应收款之类的资产所有者受益。应从这些资产所有者那里筹集资金转移税。为避免破产而进行的必要转移使借款人能够继续支付抵押或信用卡账单，并最终使诸如房地产或信用卡应收款之类的资产所有者受益。应从这些资产所有者那里筹集资金转移税。为避免破产而进行的必要转移使借款人能够继续支付抵押或信用卡账单，并最终使诸如房地产或信用卡应收款之类的资产所有者受益。应从这些资产所有者那里收取资金转移税。