Crisis No More: The Success of Obama's Stimulus Program - Gary Burtless - Brookings

Brookings, Gary Burtless, 17/08/2010 excerpt/extracto.-

The recession that began in December 2007 ranks as the worst since World War II. It carved a huge slice out of Americans’ financial wealth and caused the biggest percentage decline in employment of the post-war era. Even though the stock market rebounded in 2009 and U.S. output began to grow in the second half of that year, the recession continues to take a terrible toll on the incomes and psychological health of many families.

(...) The tea leaves are clear: The Great Recession will not be a second Great Depression. And, as I argue below, President Obama’s stimulus package, though imperfect, deserves a great deal of credit for bringing us back to the positive trajectory we’re on today. Any reasonable grader of the stimulus’s effects on driving recovery and combating joblessness would give the stimulus at least a B+. In the pages that follow, I first outline the size and contours of the government’s response to the recession, paying specific attention to how this response does and does not differ from government policy in recessions past. I distinguish between standard and nonstandard responses, that is, policies typical of those in other post-war recessions and those that are unusual. Then I consider the success of the policies and the public’s surprisingly hostile reaction to them. Voters’ sour views on the stimulus make it unlikely Congress will extend or expand the program, even if the economy takes a turn for the worse.