Classic:
Are these economic research firms independent enough:
Quote:
Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.
Yet I’m guessing you don’t think of the stimulus bill as a big success. You’ve read columns (by me, for example) complaining that it should have spent money more quickly. Or you’ve heard about the phantom ZIP code scandal: the fact that a government Web site mistakenly reported money being spent in nonexistent ZIP codes.
And many of the criticisms are valid. The program has had its flaws. But the attention they have received is wildly disproportionate to their importance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/bu...fLqV0XZM6WOE0A
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I agree the program has its flaws (less than perfect) and one can quibble with the exact numbers, but to continue to deny that it created or saved hundreds of thousands of jobs or more to-date is simply ideological ignorance.
This is important to note as well:
Quote:
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But the billions of dollars in tax cuts, food stamps and jobless benefits in the stimulus have still made a difference. Since February, aggregate wages and salaries have fallen, while consumer spending has risen. The difference between the two — some $100 billion — has essentially come from stimulus checks.
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Hey, Merc ....Dont you think someone should tell Stossel....tax cuts (and other benefits) going back into the economy!