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Economic Stimulus 2009

• Financial Bailout Support Could Reach $23.7 Trillion

  [Fox News, July 22, 2009] The government's top bailout watchdog says that the total price tag for federal support stemming from the financial crisis could reach $23.7 trillion in the long run.

• What About Jobs?

  [Investor's Business Daily, May 12, 2009] The White House economic forecast revealed that no net new jobs are expected this year even as the economy recovers. But jobs are a lagging, not leading, indicator of economic strength. What is more stimulating than the massive bailout by the government is that private- sector economic activity and global stock markets appear to have hit bottom and are ready to resume growth later this year. In fact, the coming recovery will have little if anything to do with stimulus, says IBD.

• Now Is No Time to Give Up on Markets

  [Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2009] Columnist Mary O'Grady interviews 1992 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences Gary Becker on the market, Obama's stimulus package, and individual responsibility. His conclusion: "When the market economy is compared to alternatives, nothing is better at raising productivity, reducing poverty, improving health and integrating the people of the world."

• Let Our Start-Ups Bail Us Out

  [Washington Post, March 3, 2009] President Obama noted last week that "we have lived through an era where, too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity." The stimulus finances important development of infrastructure, renewable energy and scientific research, which is great for jobs in the short term but doesn't guarantee sustainability. Entrepreneurs are the fertile soil for job growth and recovery, says Reid Hoffman.

• Did the 2008 Tax Rebates Stimulate Spending?

  [NCPA, March 4, 2009] In an effort to bolster economic performance in light of a looming downturn in economic activity, President George W. Bush signed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 on February 13, 2008. More than two-thirds of the $152 billion bill consisted of economic stimulus payments that were sent beginning in May to approximately 130 million households. How well did the program work, asks the National Bureau of Economic Research?

• Harvard Economics Professor Calls Stimulus 'Terrible Piece of Legislation'

  (Tax Foundation, February 19, 2009) Robert Barro, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, criticizes the recently passed federal stimulus package as a 'terrible piece of legislation,' and calls for permanent changes to the tax structure to spur economic growth. 'What they call tax reductions in this bill are really transfer payments, particularly redistribution of income from the rich to the poor,' says Barro.