system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Social security was created to stop another economic depression from happening again. Would implementing a federal unemployment benefit of $600 a week, voted on by Congress, stop recessions from happening?

It is my understanding that the main reason for social security was to create a fail safe during recessions so that there are a group of individuals that will still have money to spend during a recession. This acts as a last defense so there is still some buying power in the economy. 

My job allowed me to see all the ways the one time payments and $600 a week boosted the economy that would have otherwise stalled. It was working exactly as needed right up until inventory ran out. I didn't see inflation/prices start to rise until  inventory shortages caused by the pandemic messed with supply and demand which brings me to my question. 

Could having a policy/law tied to the yield curve that triggers a vote in Congress to implement temporary federal unemployment/one time payments act as a recession safeguard similar to how SS acts as a depression safeguard?
gpt
The thing is, recessions happen for all kinds of reasons. You can try to prevent them and try to migitate their impact, but you can't solve everything.

I mean, think of the pandemic. No payment is going to prevent businesses from shutting down if they simply can't operate due to a pandemic, and no payment can prevent a shortfall in production due to that. If a substantial amount of people simply can't work, that's kind of just what happens.

Or take the war in Ukraine. You can't pay your way out of airports being bombed, factories being destroyed and people being driven from their land. No unemployment benefit in the world is going to change the fact that you're being invaded, and that that's bad for the economy.

You can try to migitate the negative effects and try to make sure that economies recover as quickly as possible. You can even prevent *some* recessions. But you can't prevent everything.