The federal government didn’t function aggressively enough in 2009 to combat the Great Recession, and the economic comeback was vulnerable as a result.

President-elect Joe Biden unveils his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan, which includes another round of stimulus checks: "The very health of our nation is at stake … The $600 already appropriated is simply not enough" https://t.co/fstU9rCa26 pic.twitter.com/JmIaCmdA8z

— CNN (@CNN) January 15, 2021

Joe Biden, as former President Obama’s vice president, learned that unbearable lesson firsthand. That’s why Biden is taking a go-big, or go-home approach now that he’s inheriting a fragile economy and the worst pandemic in a century.

Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan shows that he’s decided to prevent rehearsing the Great Recession oversights if Congress lets him.

“If we look back and think this plan was too big, that would be a regret that would be fine to live with,” Jason Furman, one of the architects of the 2009 stimulus plan, told CNN Business.

Furman, a former top economic aide to Obama, thought back that the team needed a $1 trillion stimulus package in 2009 — or approximately 25% bigger than the record-setting legislation that eventually got through Congress.