Why the Stimulus Was Bound to Fail

By: Nick Ottens (Diary)  |  July 26th at 05:54 PM  | 

In the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown, Congress enacted an almost $800 billion stimulus bill in the assumption that an artificial increase in consumer demand could propel the nation into recovery. The rationale was pure Keynesian economics—in times of crisis, the government should borrow, spend and boost demand to generate growth. Two years later, it’s clear that the stimulus didn’t work. Unemployment is still | Read More »

CBO Reports on Stimulus’ Effectiveness

By: Nick Ottens (Diary)  |  February 23rd at 05:13 PM  | 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported on the economic impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package, in the fourth quarter of 2010 today. The CBO now estimates that the stimulus will increase budget deficits over the 2009–2019 period by $821 billion. Close to half of the total impact occurred in fiscal year 2010 and about 70 percent of | Read More »