WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TWO PEER ANSWERS: ( 10 SENTENCES FOR EACH REPLY ) PEER 1: 1. What has been COVID-19's impact on small businesses?   COVID-19's impact on small businesses has been mortifying. Covid-19 affected small businesses most tragically. More than a few businesses were forced to close down permanently. Many businesses are going out of business. When the shutdown hit, businesses were not prepared; this affected their business negatively. As explained in the article, "Estimates from the weekly U.S. Census Small Business Pulse Survey indicate that roughly 50% of businesses report having a large negative effect from the COVID‐19 pandemic and that only 15%–20% of businesses have enough cash on hand to cover three months of operations" (Fairlie). According to the article, only a small percentage of businesses were prepared, but only for three months. Over 80% were not prepared to keep cash on hand at all, forcing them to lose more than they expected.    2. How are small businesses coping with COVID-19 pandemic?   Small businesses are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic by relying on government assistance. Due to the pandemic, small businesses have not been able to recover. Owners fell short of the profits they were expecting this year; they weren't even able to make enough to pay the bills. Therefore, when government assistance became available small businesses jumped at the opportunity. As explained in the article, "small business owners are also awaiting further government assistance in the form of a potential emergency financial aid package that has been proposed by the federal government and could include over $300 billion for loans to keep small businesses afloat" (Jr., Tom). According to the article, there has been a proposal by the federal government to provide over 300 billion to small businesses till they can recover fully. Unfortunately, government assistance was the only option for business owners after the shutdown. Still to this day, small businesses have not been able to recover. Therefore, they have had no other choice but to rely on government assistance to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. PEER 2: 1. COVID 19 has impacted small businesses by the employer sector applications as determined by the U.S. In the 5 weeks from mid-March to mid-April, Census Weekly Market Creation Figures decreased by over 27 percent compared to the previous year. A study of nearly 6,000 small businesses who were part of the Alignable market network was published by Bartik et al. (2020) in late March. They found that 43% of firms are temporarily closing, workforce losses are high, and most companies have less than 1 month of cash on hand. In order to target federal assistance, it is theoretically necessary to sustain small enterprises and the jobs they generate. 2. Small businesses are coping with the idea of the new emergency financial relief program offered by the federal government, small business owners are now seeking direct government support, which may provide more than $300 billion in loans to keep small businesses alive. Around the same time, coronavirus-affected small companies will qualify for reduced loans of up to $2 million from the U.S. Small Business Management, demonstrated earlier by CNBC Make It. And, the Treasury Department has also announced that it would delay the 90-day period for regular tax payments.