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Stimulus A Success
As the battle for the presidency continues, we constantly hear about the lack of success of the previous stimulus package. It makes a great sound bite for the opposition, but the truth is that it is not true.
Unemployment remains higher than before the recession, but remember this is the worst recession since the Great Depression. If it were not for the stimulus package, we might be in another depression. We forget how bad things were in 2008 and 2009 when the financial system's collapse seemed likely.
It looked like GM and Chrysler were going to close along with thousands of auto related companies around the country. Remember the criticism for government aid for the auto industry, but without it today GM and Chrysler would be gone along with the jobs of many thousands.
Do you believe that would have helped today’s economic situation? The crash of the financial system without the stimulus bailout would have had an even more dramatic impact on our economy.
I agree that it is unfortunate we bailed out those who bear much of the responsibility for the crash, but would it have been better to send the country and the world into another Great Depression? Yes, the economy is still hurting today, but without the stimulus package we could have returned to something that looked like the 1930’s.
If we expect an easy cure for our current economic quagmire, then we are sadly mistaken. It is going to be a slow recovery that can be helped with more stimulus investment, but without that investment it may take more than a decade to fully recovery.
To finally recover from the depression required the biggest stimulus package of all, World War II. Hopefully today we will be able to recover with a smaller investment, and the money can be used to rebuild our nation's infrastructure rather than destruction and death.
Our nation is at a crossroad; which path we follow should be decided by facts rather than political rhetoric.
Posted in Economic Development | Related Topics: Economic Growth Economic Recession Federal Stimulus
1 Comment
Robert Nepper says:
February 23, 2012 at 2:43 pm
If you like stimuli, you should support Minnesota’s bill, SF 78, which requires employers to simply “Use or Return” employee inventions! It breaks that solid monopoly employers hold over their creative employees. Some of us believe that this closed monopoly keeps the brakes engaged on our economy so it can;t recover sooner.
Employers claim blanket ownership of employee inventions but with no obligation to actually USE those claimed inventions. This missing obligation gives the employer awesome power to block all inventions which the employer chooses NOT to develop.
Think of it: this policy blocks most of our scientists and engineers from personal access to the U.S. Patent Office—the every institution established for the STIMULATION and protection of the American inventors.
No wonder we have over 150,000 officially unemployed Minnesotans and 20,000+ foreclosures annually. Our economy is sitting at idle. Companies are flush with profits while they sit on a reported $ TRILLION, much of which would be invested developing new and better products if we passed the NO-COST SF 78! That would pry these fat-cat CEOs off their easy chairs and start “hiring rather than firing”! Go for it!