The graphs to the left demonstrate the economic stimulus package ushered in by President Obama has had some positive effects on the country. GDP is recovering, unemployment is slowly shrinking and on the verge of creating jobs, and the stock market has rebounded nicely.None of this means we are out of the recession. It's shaky ground at best. But all data suggests the stimulus has worked. Via this Times article, it's worked better than anyone is willing to say.
*Update:
After a rough email from a friend whose opinion I do heavily consider, I want to clarify a few things.
Reader JL:
Chris, how's it working? We were told unemployment would be lower by this time. We were told, GDP would be higher. We were told green tech would be flowing. We were told super trains would be built all over the country. We were told broadband would be comparable to South Korea. And so far all I'm seeing are "grants" to people who mostly don't qualify. The only real construction projects are interstate jobs that states failed to fund because they are all still broke. Actually the construction projects are old projects some from as far back as 2001. Where's the new America we were promised? All the stimulus has done is add to the national debt billions. Job creation is abysmal. The entire stimulus is, the only part stimulating anything, is patch work on interstates. We have pot holes being filled dude. That's it. Where are these big projects that will rescue us all?JL is a house staffer. And a friend. He's got a point too. I absolutely think the stimulus should have been bigger. It should have been about $1.5 trillion. No one had the balls to do that, however. But the stimulus has been very effective at rescuing the economy from the brink of total disaster. It was in free fall. It no longer is.
Let's consider the choices we were faced with in January 2009. The president's $787 billion stimulus, which has without a doubt saved us pot holes or not. Or the Republican's spending freeze, which would have been the final straw for what would have ushered in another Great Depression. Or do nothing, which is tantamount to a spending freeze. Standing up to Republican obstructionism and do-nothingism was the right thing to do. We are better off today for not listening to the people who got us in this mess in the first place. There's no need to listen to them now either.
