Hi, I'm Dan Premack and welcome to Axios Recap.

Today is Wednesday, February 24th.

Inflation fears are up, COVID hospitalizations are down,

and we're focused on the newest advocate for economic stimulus.

We're just over six weeks into the Biden administration, and two major storylines have emerged.

First, the pandemic is subsiding, at least a little. Part of that's just thanks to the calendar,

as the post- Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday surges subsided. A bigger part is that over 44

million Americans have already gotten their first

vaccine jab, including many senior citizens who are most at risk for death.

Second, the country still needs economic stimulus. For many everyday Americans, for small

businesses, for renters, for both livelihoods and recovery. But even though the White House and Congress have been negotiating stimulus since inauguration

day, it remains in limbo.

So now top business leaders are stepping into the breach, trying to speed things along.

Earlier today, for example, a group of more than 150 CEOs wrote a public letter to Congress,

telling it we need stimulus and we need it now.

And then there's Wall Street Giant J.P. Morgan, which just released its first ever set

of economic policy recommendations. Its think tank called the J.P. Morgan Chase Institute,

historically has analyzed, anonymized Chase credit card data, but then let policymakers come

to their own policy conclusions.

Now though, the Institute and its newly founded policy center are going a step further,

leveraging that data to propose everything from raising the minimum wage, to adding benefits

for working parents, to extending eviction moratoriums.

...