Money for everyone.
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Look I am sure many of these folks are honest hard working people doing their best to support their families. But when I see (as I saw today) these guys illegally parked on Xinyi Road, standing in the YouBike area, using YouBikes baskets as ashtrays…my sympathy somehow starts disappearing. 
Guy
Just saw Wuhan Virus reached Alaska. End game.
Thoughts and prayers everyone!
Its not end game until it infects Greenland, Madagascar and New Zealand. 
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The Antarctica basecamp…Every man and woman for themselves
Come back in one year and make a movie about it.
Sealand will be the last domino. Then and only then, all interplanetary flights will be canceled. 
Oh, I remember… but that one was The Ultimate Virus, level 4 with instant transmission, 99.99x% fatality, no cure, no vaccine, and only the few chosen by God or the Devil had immunity. Not really comparable to what we have here (3% or something). 
I do agree with you about the brittle thing, but if handing out coupons for certain businesses isn’t a kind of subsidy, what is? It only counts if they give the money directly to the businesses, unconditionally?
Over here in Elbonia, the government is doing its level best to turn a serious but manageable problem into a nationwide disaster that may well result in a much, much higher death toll from starvation, poverty-related diseases, and violence. Given their track record, they will undoubtedly succeed. And it wouldn’t surprise me if a Randall Flagg pops up from somewhere in the ensuing chaos.
Subsidy is the continuous transfer of tangible wealth into an inherently-unprofitable or useless enterprise (corn farming for bioethanol would be the archetypal example).
Governments adjust the money supply all the time by withdrawing or injecting currency. True, giving it directly to businesses is an unorthodox method, but they’re probably doing it for the psychological impact.
Stupid virus, it’s suicide, no chance to spread.
Do McD and Starbucks need that? Probably not. Small business on the other hand do.
But isn’t that exactly who they targeted?
Oh, I see. This is more stuff from the “poor people have lots of money” school of semantics. 
Um … no. And I’ve never said that. You asked for a technical definition which distinguishes ‘subsidy’ from other forms of monetary policy. Perhaps there are some people here with economics qualifications who can chip in.
Isn’t this exactly what I said above?
Read the article; don’t just quote it. It does describe subsidy as something ongoing, not as a one-off.
I’m assuming us ARC APRC folks won’t be getting those vouchers. If I were to hazard a guess.
It’d nice for a change
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Sorry – poor people can have lots of money.
No, you said it only qualifies as a subsidy if the money (or tangible wealth) goes to “an inherently unprofitable or useless enterprise”.
It often is ongoing, and a one-off payment may be better referred to using a term like grant (mentioned in the article as a type of subsidy) or injection or bailout, but the article doesn’t use a narrow definition and doesn’t give any minimum duration.
Have you ever taught English, Comrade F? If you have, you may recall trying to explain how the language actually works to a non-native speaker (probably a teacher) who somehow became convinced that, say, drink and beverage have utterly distinct meanings. You know what I mean? 
I would have thought that was an obvious component. If an activity is inherently profitable, why would it attract subsidy in the first place? I’ve never heard of profitable activities being subsidized, have you?
I’m not saying this is necessarily a problem. The Chinese government subsidized the solar panel industry for years, with the deliberate intent of taking over the global market. They succeeded. It’s now profitable. They were taking the long view. So to that extent, it might have been considered something in-between subsidy and monetary policy.
With the huge number of things that are subsidized directly or indirectly, from big industries to small to things people have never heard of and things people have but rarely think about… it would take forever to go through the list.
I think night market stalls can be profitable and can survive the Corona thing, but I’ve never tried running one, so what do I know? 