Imperfect stimulus plan is still the best answer | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/15/2009: I have been a professional economist for nearly a quarter-century, and I've never seen anything like the unraveling of our economy over the last year. Even if everything breaks our way, the current downturn will easily be the longest, most severe, and broadest - crossing occupations, industries, and regions - since the Great Depression. The only way to avoid another depression is through very aggressive action by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the administration.
The fiscal-stimulus plan that will soon become law, though far from perfect, is an important part of the policy response needed to shore up our sliding economy. The plan includes tax cuts and government spending worth nearly $800 billion, including about $300 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses; $250 billion in aid to fiscally strapped state and local governments; $150 billion in various kinds of infrastructure spending; and $100 billion in income support for workers who lose jobs. By my calculations, the plan will add more than two million jobs by the end of 2010 to the number that would exist without a stimulus, and the unemployment rate will be more than a full percentage point lower.
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