How to Fail to Recover

It is a relief that America finally has a president who can act to promote economic recovery, and what he has been doing will make a big difference. Unfortunately, however, what Barack Obama is doing is not enough.

NEW YORK – Some people thought that Barack Obama’s election would turn everything around for America. Because it has not, even after the passage of a huge stimulus bill, the presentation of a new program to deal with the underlying housing problem, and several plans to stabilize the financial system, some are even beginning to blame Obama and his team.

Obama, however, inherited an economy in freefall, and could not possibly have turned things around in the short time since his inauguration. President Bush seemed like a deer caught in the headlights –�paralyzed, unable to do almost anything – for months before he left office. It is a relief that the US finally has a president who can act, and what he has been doing will make a big difference. 

Unfortunately, what he is doing is not enough. The stimulus package appears big – more than 2% of GDP per year – but one-third of it goes to tax cuts. And, with Americans facing a debt overhang, rapidly increasing unemployment (and the worst unemployment compensation system among major industrial countries), and falling asset prices, they are likely to save much of the tax cut.

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