Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMercenary
I was thinking about the overwhelming support for "Change, Yes We Can." when in fact there may be little change after all.
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George Stephanopoulos asked him this same question. As I remember it, "What parts of your campaign promises will you not keep" as if it is a given that some campaign pledges will be ignored. Obama, gave an answer that was not worth remembering.
Every presidential candidate promises change. Even Humphrey did it which Lyndon Johnson did not appreciate.
How much have things changed? Overall consensus in the American Economics Association in San Francisco, even from those who normally oppose government intervention, is that government fiscal policies must be aggressive even though some also acknowledge that quantitative proof that such policies work is almost non-existent.
A benchmark paper for the conference based upon 14 previous severe recessions including the last big five (Norway, Finland, Japan, and Sweden) suggest a GDP drop of 9% which takes two years to reach bottom. Unemployment averages 7% and keeps dropping for five years. Housing prices take five years to drop 36%. Government debt rises 86%. Scary part is that America has already surpassed some of these averaging numbers. However statistical variations for 'average' GDP and unemployment numbers are large.