I'm not convinced. What I see is a very long recession, one now more than two years old, that is running it's course, i.e. following the typical business cycle.
Possibly some of the stimulus had a marginal effect and saved some jobs, but whether or not the billions added to the deficit can be justified is the question. Also remember that only a portion of the stimulus money got directly into the economy, and very slowly at that.
Now the banks are a different story. They had to kept from taking each other down in a domino fashion....either by direct monetary infusions or capital guarantees by the Fed Reserve or a combination of the two. Did they all need to be rescued? I agree with Buffet who says "no". But that's history and the banks have or are repaying the government rather nicely, I think. Most have diluted their stock so much that shareholders have borne the expense, and this is as it should be.
But as to the economy in general, I have seen nothing more than the typical recession that comes along every few years to correct the excesses, i.e. the overbuilding and the overstocking of inventory that periodically happens. That's why the whole thing is referred to as "the business CYCLE". Business expands, business contracts, and so on and so on, and doesn't stay on a level footing for long.
Democrats' recovery effort rescued the economy from collapse,
This kind of language drives me crazy. Economies don't collapse, stock markets do. Economies contract...6, 7, 8%...and the stock market goes bonkers, selling off as much as 60 to 75% pricewise.
I still think the cratering stock market wrongly influenced Bernanke and Congress in their decision making, and they like so much of the public saw the market as synonymous with the economy. As a result panic set in. And now we're stuck with the assumption that "The second Great Depression was forestalled."
I heard Obama make this claim himself a few days ago....exact words. Bet it shows up the the STU.
People who think we could have had another Great Depression simply don't know the fundamental characteristics of the first one. |
