As anyone running a household knows, spending a lot of money does not necessarily mean getting value in return. As of this writing, the estimated cost of physical and social infrastructure proposals being debated on Capitol Hill lies somewhere between $1.2 trillion and $4.7 trillion. That’s a lot to load on a $21 trillion economy with a national debt rising above the gross domestic product. The magnitude of such spending poses major risks. Too much stimulus could trigger more inflation. Too much debt could tie legislators’ hands far into the future.

Wrongly targeted spending could be a lost chance to help millions of families wondering how they will pay their bills. Brookings Institution analysts report that “the pandemic hurt low-wage workers the most — and so far, the recovery has helped them the least.”