In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic rocked economies worldwide. Millions of people lost their jobs, and many businesses struggled to survive or shut down. Governments responded with some of the largest economic relief packages in history— the US alone spent $2.2 trillion on the first round of relief. So where did all this money come from? Jonathan Smith explores the strategy of quantitative easing.

Lesson by Jonathan Smith
Directed by Serin Inan

Narrator: Addison Anderson

Director of Production: Gerta Xhelo

Editorial Director: Alex Rosenthal

Produced by: Gerta Xhelo, Bethany Cutmore-Scott

Editorial Producer: Elizabeth Cox

Script Editor: Alex Gendler

Storyboard Artist: Gürkan Gürler
Art Director: Gürkan Gürler

Animators: Tuncay Çetin

Design Intern: Lale Tunçbilek

Composer and Sound Designer: Deniz Dogançay

Executive Creative Director: Logan Smalley