France and Germany’s $550 billion coronavirus rescue proposal is a 21st century Marshall Plan, but it could be dead before it even gets started

Germany and France on Monday proposed a European Recovery Fund worth €500 billion ($547 billion) to tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The plan would be the most significant transnational fiscal effort in Europe since the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild the continent after World War II. Designed in particular to help industries worst hit by the virus, like aviation and hospitality, the fund would provide grants that would not have to be paid back, rather than loans. However, the fund could be dead before it has even got off the ground, with several countries in