One year later, the verdict is in: stimulus is working

I want to talk about some good news I shared with the National Governors Association on Sunday.

And I don't mean good news for the Obama Administration; I mean good news for the American people, good news for the two million people who would not be working were it not for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the Recovery Act. I mentioned it here, but we were so busy announcing our TIGER grant awards that I didn't give it the attention it deserves.

Luckily, America's economists and news media stepped in. They have combed through the Recovery Act data, done their due diligence, and concluded--as I have--that the stimulus is working.

It is employing good people across the country who would otherwise be out of work. And it is getting our nation's infrastructure back into the condition it ought to be in.

And it shows that sometimes this great Federal government of ours--despite its critics--gets it right.

Now who is saying the Recovery Act is working? Who is citing the two million direct jobs or the 41,000 transportation jobs created by the $35.6 billion DOT has committed so far to 13,300 different projects?

Let's start with Saturday's Boston Globe, which writes:

"The numbers are in, and there can no longer be any doubt that President Obama’s stimulus bill helped pull America from the brink of economic catastrophe, in part by creating millions of jobs that would not otherwise have existed. All of the major economic research firms that have studied the stimulus’ effect have come to this conclusion."

And if you need another independent voice, how about the Concord Monitor? They write:

"The recession was so deep and the financial industry so battered that government had to act. The stimulus program could have been better and should have been bigger. But it's doing a decent job of keeping the economy afloat until it can swim again and people employed who would otherwise need assistance. The unemployment rate, currently down to 9.7 percent, would have been higher; it could have hit 11.2 percent if the spending hadn't created and, more notably, saved jobs."

As California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told ABC's This Week:

"It doesn't match up. Anyone that says it hasn't created a job, they should talk to the 150,000 people that have been getting jobs in California.”

And I see where Florida Governor Charlie Crist told the press just yesterday:

"This was necessary.It was the right thing to do, and it saved 87,000 jobs in my state. We need to put people first, before political bickering."

I couldn't agree more. And neither could the Baltimore Sun, whose editorial board writes:

"To conclude the stimulus has done no good is to forget how bad things were, to underestimate how much they have turned around and to ignore how much more the program still has to offer."

I particularly like the Globe's conclusion:

"It’s ridiculous to deny, as many have, that adding 2.5 million jobs was a poor use of government funds. Stimulus opponents, often motivated by strictly ideological or political concerns, have repeatedly claimed that the bill didn’t create a single job that the economy wouldn’t have created anyway. This isn’t true, and it should be beyond the bounds of political debate to claim it."

Enough said.

Happy birthday, Recovery Act. And "Thank you," America's governors, for helping us administer this historic stimulus in record time with record transparency.

Concord Monitor:
The recession was so deep and the financial industry so battered that government had to act.

The stimulus program could have been better and should have been bigger. But it's doing a decent job of keeping the economy afloat until it can swim again and people employed who would otherwise need assistance.
The unemployment rate, currently down to 9.7 percent, would have been higher. The president's Council of Economic Advisers says that it could have hit 11.2 percent if the spending hadn't created and, more notably, saved jobs.

But anger at the stimulus program is unjustified.

Memphis Commercial Appeal
 That's because of the huge damage the recession has inflicted on the economy -- 8 million jobs lost since its onset at the end of 2007. Obama took office during what now looks like the nadir of the recession and felt impelled to act boldly. Failure to act, he said, "would have led to catastrophe."

Some credible economists say he didn't act boldly enough, that the stimulus should have been much bigger. In any case, he acted without much help from the Republicans, who, Obama says, attack the bill to score political points "and then show up at the ribbon-cutting ceremonies for (stimulus) projects in their districts."

Christian Science monitor:
But that's not the best measure of ARRA's effectiveness, says Roger Aliaga-Diaz, a senior economist at Vanguard Group. “The right comparison is where we are versus where we’d be without the stimulus.”

And there, most economists are in agreement: The stimulus allowed the US to avoid an economic depression, where unemployment would have been higher and economic activity lower than where it is today.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703787304575075861965887700.html?KEYWORDS=recovery+act

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6217122.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Comments

[Solar Global Green]

Of course it is working. All of the noise in the system you heard over the last few months is just that: noise. The stimulus saved this country from a depression and once the economy turns around people are going to realize the type of leadership this administration provided.

[Michael E. Bailey]

The ARRA was the best thing that has happened since FDR's New Deal of almost 80 years ago, except the ARRA has had better results faster. The only ones who don't likge it are a few politicians more interested in running for office than in people and the economy and some conservative radio talk show hosts who would only be satisfied if we were in a second great depression. These people had and don't have any ideas for revitalizing the economy. The President was able to look into the future at what could happen if nothing were done and to put the ARRA in place to prevent a depression. The ARRA should be renewed. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.