Posted on 06/20/2009 2:55:53 AM PDT by Scanian
Vice President Biden recently confessed that the administration "guessed wrong" on the stimulus bill. Even President Obama reluctantly admitted that unemployment is likely to reach ten percent this year, after promising in February that his stimulus package would keep it from exceeding eight.
The US economy is so large and globally dominant that it probably will recover at some point -- perhaps just in time for the 2010 elections. And once it recovers, no doubt Mr. Obama will stop blaming his predecessor and take credit for it. But his actions only worsened the economic recession, just as President Roosevelt's did in the mid-1930s. According to some studies, Roosevelt's policies prolonged the depression by seven years.
So what exactly is wrong with Mr. Obama's plan? The short answer is that he is attempting to stimulate demand, rather than stimulating supply. To make things even worse, he also is taking actions that will depress supply.
For the past three decades, the Federal Reserve Board was allowed to moderate America's money supply with an unprecedented degree of autonomy. Mistakes were made, but the Fed generally has been able to offset -- or at least delay -- the harm done by the looters in Washington.
However, Mr. Obama piled on spending and debt that even the most prudent monetary policies might not be able to counteract. Stagflation and other terms that haven't been heard since the miserable Carter years now are voiced again in economic forecasts.
Mr. Obama's so-called stimulus spending is counterproductive not only because of its unprecedented magnitude, but also because of its beneficiaries. As an inexperienced policy maker, Mr. Obama naively believes that supply follows demand. If mobs of greedy supporters at town hall meetings demand taxpayer-funded kitchens and free healthcare, Mr. Obama will try to find a way to supply
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
BO and his henchpeople in Congress had NO intention of stimulating the economy, their intent all along was to steal from the taxpayers (corporate and individual) and give the spoils to their thug cronies.
Your remark is dead-on accurate.
And the unemployment figures nation wide (from non-seasonally adjusted numbers) according the BLS statistics posted on the web for the month of May 2009 are at 10.02% already.
And if you look at the dispersion of the job losses, if you removed a few of the “red states” the number would be 10.5%.
That even understates the issue, because of the roll-off factor as unemployed workers benefits expire. There is a limit to how long they can stay on the program.
No one really knows an accurate figure, but it is already over 10% nationwide.
I think the writer should have made more clear that he was referring to technological break-throughs when stating that “supply leads demand.” The supply has to exist before the demand is stimulated. I don’t think a business person in an established industry would agree. After all, increasing supply from Chrysler and GM isn’t going to stimulate demand...
hh
I thought it interesting that Oregon didn’t blame their 12.4% unemployment on job losses. It was because of spouses re-entering the job market and unemployed people moving there and looking for work....
hh
Already, no one wants to take the blame.
Just wait.
See this map and extend the trend 6 months.
Job Loss/Gain 2007-2009 by county-
http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/
I hear the whistle of a coming TrainWreck!
Obama’s Worst Role = president
Worst President, Ever. Worst Congress, Ever.
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