Reuters has this interesting report on the actual success of the stimulus, widely panned from the right to the professional left.
The massive stimulus package boosted real GDP by up to 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and put up to 3.3 million people to work, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
However, economists don't believe it.
The massive stimulus package boosted real GDP by up to 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and put up to 3.3 million people to work, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
But the CBO reports that the stimulus had a stabilizing effect on halting the slide of the economy over the depression cliff. I call that a success, and it saved and created quite a few jobs. Would a new stimulus do the same, probably, for a while. But the problems in our economy run deep into structural problems and how long can we keep it propped up with borrowed money? It is now a political non starter, a new similar sized stimulus, so the natural contraction will begin and there will be much pain. This can be alleviated quite a bit by keeping the safety net funded and the states solvent with federal dollars, but to keep throwing gasoline on a fire long in coming, and arguably necessary for long term economic stability, there would have to be political appetite with the public and politicians, and that just isn't there.
The massive package of tax cuts, construction spending and enhanced safety-net benefits was passed in February 2009 in the midst of the deepest recession since the 1930s.
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.
CBO said the package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would cost $814 billion, down from its previous estimate of $862 billion. The lower figure was thanks largely to health-care subsidies that cost less than anticipated. CBO initially estimated the bill would worsen budget deficits by $787 billion.
The massive stimulus package boosted real GDP by up to 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and put up to 3.3 million people to work, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
However, economists don't believe it.
The massive stimulus package boosted real GDP by up to 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and put up to 3.3 million people to work, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
But the CBO reports that the stimulus had a stabilizing effect on halting the slide of the economy over the depression cliff. I call that a success, and it saved and created quite a few jobs. Would a new stimulus do the same, probably, for a while. But the problems in our economy run deep into structural problems and how long can we keep it propped up with borrowed money? It is now a political non starter, a new similar sized stimulus, so the natural contraction will begin and there will be much pain. This can be alleviated quite a bit by keeping the safety net funded and the states solvent with federal dollars, but to keep throwing gasoline on a fire long in coming, and arguably necessary for long term economic stability, there would have to be political appetite with the public and politicians, and that just isn't there.
The massive package of tax cuts, construction spending and enhanced safety-net benefits was passed in February 2009 in the midst of the deepest recession since the 1930s.
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.
CBO said the package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would cost $814 billion, down from its previous estimate of $862 billion. The lower figure was thanks largely to health-care subsidies that cost less than anticipated. CBO initially estimated the bill would worsen budget deficits by $787 billion.
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