The stimulus pulls an o fer! Didn’t stop the recession and create jobs
I run this in light of the resignation of yet another Obama economic guru … Larry Summers. It’s a great analysis of how the stimulus didn’t solve anything other than fatten the pockets of Washington elites. But then if you are unemployed … you already knew that.
Britt Hume … on the money as it were.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOkdVR8tIPU
24 Comments
The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.
You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.
The site is not broken.
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/08/spinning-the-sti…
Chris, please no blind links. Provide at least a sentence or two about where the link will take you. By allowing links here, we open readers up to the possibility that link you posted may really go elsewhere.
As an example, you might think this link goes to Google – http://google.com – but it really goes to yahoo.com. I know you would not do this, but someone with an axe to grind could register and cause all sorts of havoc.
Steve you mean it could be like the twitter snafu where it could link you to porn sites and things like that
Here is the posted in Free Republic website of the blog article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2594129/…
That said, the Factcheck post looks at things the wrong way. I personally think the stimulus has made things worse, specifically since we've grown the deficit and debt to enormous proportions.
Right now, I can really stimulate my "personal economy" by purchasing a new computer, decorating my office and maybe even finishing the basement and buying a new truck. I have the credit available to do all of these things.
Yet, would I be in a better position in the long-term? I think not, especially since the banks probably have provided me a credit line that is too big. They trust me since I have a good credit score.
The government has reached far into the future and spent money that may or may not be provided by future generations. The can has been kicked not just down the road, but into the next county.
If we are going to ignore the fact we do indeed have to pay back debt and pay interest on that debt – as Biden and Factcheck do – we might as well go ahead and stimulate the economy with $10 trillion in spending this year instead of just $1 trillion.
@TomL: Yes, if you click my link to "Google" above (looks like Google right?) you will be (safely) directed to Yahoo.com instead. That's why I prefer people avoid posting blind links. Anybody can do what I did above, and it's not a "bug", it's just the way HTML works.
Thanks, chris! Here is the actual CBO report: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/117xx/doc11706/08-24-A…
Factcheck:
"As with its earlier reports, the wide range of CBO’s estimates reflects the inherent uncertainty of comparing current economic conditions to what might have happened had there been no government intervention. Biden’s claim of 3 million jobs "created" might be right, but it could almost as easily be half that number according to CBO’s assessment."
"But either way, CBO’s report contradicts Boehner’s claim that the stimulus spending has hurt the economy."
Note that this is immediately. What happens when the bill comes due?
"Nevertheless, the total number of jobs in July was still 3.3 million below the total when Obama took office, and 7.7 million below the total in December 2007, the best month during the Bush administration. And for the record, CBO now estimates that the stimulus spending will total $814 billion by 2019, somewhat more than the price tag of $787 billion that was estimated at the time of passage."
Again, by current estimates. The CBO uses data it gets from Congress, and applies models.
From the CBO paper:
"Although CBO has examined data on output and
employment during the period since ARRA’s enactment,
those data are not as helpful in determining ARRA’s economic
effects as might be supposed because isolating the
effects would require knowing what path the economy
would have taken in the absence of the law. Because that
path cannot be observed, the new data add only limited
information about ARRA’s impact."
A knife that cuts both ways, no doubt.
The question was: did it stop the recession -dunno, there is evidence that is is and that it is not.YES>
Did the stimulus create jobs…YES
It raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs during the second quarter of this year, CBO estimated.
Measured another way, CBO said the stimulus increased the number of full-time equivalent jobs by up to 4.8 million, as part-time workers shifted to full-time work or employers offered more overtime work.
meant the recession is or is not over-evidence on both sides-sorry for quick post
Assuming the "stimulus" money slowed the recession, what was the "bang for the buck", particularly when the bill comes due?
California spent $155 million to create 52 jobs. There's our stimulus money working.
Again … you would certainly think the stimulus "created jobs" … they spent hundreds of billions. Again, I can go out there and create a couple of jobs for a year myself by spending money I don't have.
I firmly believe if we did not pass the mandated health care legislation, permanently extended the 2001/2003 tax cuts, and stopped the Congressional threats of Cape & Trade and amnesty, there would be much less certainty in the business world and more jobs would have been created.
Of course, I can not prove it … just like Biden can't prove the stimulus created jobs that would have not already been created.
You mean "…much less uncertainty in the business world.." (See? I read every word!)
Did the stimulus money create jobs? Even if they did, they are transient like the census jobs. Nothing you can count on. I mean, what about next year?
It is the threats of foolish and frequently punitive actions by unqualified pols, combined with their unhesitating ability to spend the fortunes of tomorrow today (without even asking) that have the economy in a quagmire. And it all had to be done yesterday.
The spending of the government is, at best, temporary, and at worst, extremely expensive. Make work jobs that might not have had to have been done still cost money, and the bill is coming due. Living beyond your means is easy when you are spending someone else's money.
The stimulus money for infrastructure such as roadwork isn't creating any jobs either. All it is doing is keeping the same people (union jobs) working they just move the same crews when they finish one project on down the road to start another project.
The Stimulus Law saved or imagined 47,897,324,003 jobs.
You are killing me, Tim! I am LMAO!
Etherjobs? Vaporwork? 😉
Ahh, yes that Stimulus! Whether it created jobs or not is the "smoke and mirrors". "What was the money invested/spent on?" is the question to be asked.
Let's take a project in Mystic for example: A <a title="ARRA_Mystic_CT_Beautification" href="http://www.recovery.ct.gov/recovery/lib/recovery/project_oversight/notifications/arra_dpw_memo_for_137-152_mystic.pdf" rel="nofollow">beautification project in one of the most BEAUTIFUL towns in the country! Necessary? Heck, no! But, hey it provided jobs for a few months. How many jobs will it cost or prevent in the future due to the DEBT it has created? Multiply this sort of project by the thousands.
Hint. If you post a comment and it is held for moderation do not try to post it again. You'll just have to wait until a human gets the time to review it.
I'm cooking a steak right now, so those of you who have a post held up … will just have to wait.
Cooking steak? Damn … this blog iS doing well.
Jim I guess your right, I'm having hotdogs and beans
<<I personally think the stimulus has made things worse, specifically since we’ve grown the deficit and debt to enormous proportions.>>
Steve, the repubs cut spending in the 30's recession and it led to the great depression. most economists thought the stimulus was too small.
BTW, where were the ideas from the repubs for creating jobs??
2 years of just saying "no" and now they say they are gonna do something?
the stimulus plan was obama's biggest blunder. Not because the concept is flawed, but because he delegated the job to congress, mostly nancy pelosi, and they loaded it down with spending on pet projects and junk. If the spending was more visible, on projects that would benefit many instead of a few in a worthwhile way, people would see what the money is paying for and who its employing. As its turned out, it was like an omnibus spending bill with a different name.
Well, "two years of saying "NO" means little when you have no power". What has saying "yes" brought us? What have the fear of impending taxes and punitive legislation brought us? A potential double dip recession and continued high unemployment?
Some plan there.
Jim: if you slice Spam the right way, you can grill it and pretend it is steak, although it smells like sausage…. 😉