How will ASX retail shares fare when JobKeeper winds down?

In a pandemic, everyone’s a socialist.

So quipped conservative pundits from the United States to Australia, and indeed across the globe, as COVID-19 saw governments of all stripes open the spending taps to support their stricken economies.

Will ASX retail shares take a hit with JobKeeper ending?

Here in Australia, the government passed several crucial fiscal relief packages. It worked alongside the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which slashed interest rates to 0.10% and initiated a record quantitative easing (QE) program to keep borrowing costs low.

Among the hallmarks of the government’s support program was JobKeeper. Although the program is…