Thanks to Wikicommons.
Candles, cake, and intense political debate, what else would anyone want for their first birthday? Especially if that special someone is the Federal economic stimulus bill!
Now, like most birthday celebrations (except for ours which you forgot) a variety of “gifts” and “wishes” have been flying in.
Led by President Obama, folks are trumpeting the stimulus as a success.
But for all the birthday cheer, there was also a load of Bronx cheers.
Some are questioning whether the bill actually helped the economy, particularly Republicans (who didn’t approve of the stimulus from day one).
Considering the mixed bag of gifts (including one ugly sweater) lets take a look at only a couple of them.
At Slate, Daniel Gross, comments that the stimulus bill has helped this year
there’s still $515 billion worth of tax cuts, contracts and loans, and aids to entitlement programs set to enter the economy in the next two years.
Republican Congressman Tom Price, for Red State, however, reminds us
The number of jobs our economy has lost in just the last year is approaching 4 million, and the unemployment rate has hung around 10% for the past 6 months. And then there’s the 6.1 million unemployed Americans who want to work but aren’t included in the oft-quoted unemployment rate.
Supporting the stimulus, despite the current unemployment, David Leonhardt of the New York Times, notes
Since February, aggregate wages and salaries have fallen, while consumer spending has risen. The difference between the two — some $100 billion — has essentially come from stimulus checks.
Over at the Atlantic, Meghan McArdle, makes a very interesting point that although the stimulus has been good for America’s economy
the main reason we didn’t have the Great Depression is that the Treasury intervened to prop up financial institutions, while the Federal Reserve pumped money into the economy with a fire hose.
With so many people giving so many opinions about the same issue we’re having trouble reaching a conclusion about the stimulus. Now in a couple of year’s we’ll most likely be able to look back and reach a consensus.
However, we hate to wait. So why don’t you, our loyal readers, chime in with your thoughts.
