MannyIsGod
11-25-2009, 04:38 PM
Charts and graphs that will finally make it clear that the stimulus is working
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/popup1.jpg
That chart -- or, more accurately, collection of charts -- comes from Jackie Calmes and Michael Cooper, who pulled together (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/business/economy/21stimulus.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1259067658-JK6ev74WtqPTHd2Z0diaGw) a bunch of private forecasts to find what the analysts trusted by the all-powerful market thought the stimulus's effect had been. The answer was unambiguous: It cushioned, but did not wipe out, the effects of the recession. And that's not Democrats talking or Republicans talking. It's private analysts who, as Brad DeLong points out (http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2009/11/the-people-who-sell-their-forecasts-to-paying-clients-believe-the-stimulus-is-working.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BradDelongsSemi-dailyJournal+%28Brad+DeLong%27s+Semi-Daily+Journal%29), are paid to deliver accurate information to their clients.
The electorate, of course, rewards actual conditions, not conditions relative to a hypothetical scenario in which ameliorative policies weren't adopted. But it's evidence that there's no actionable coherence clause in American politics that critics of the stimulus can argue against the effort on the grounds that joblessness is too high. If you think joblessness is too high and something should be done to lower it, then you think we should have more stimulus, not less.
By Ezra Klein | November 25, 2009; 9:30 AM ET
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/popup1.jpg
That chart -- or, more accurately, collection of charts -- comes from Jackie Calmes and Michael Cooper, who pulled together (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/business/economy/21stimulus.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1259067658-JK6ev74WtqPTHd2Z0diaGw) a bunch of private forecasts to find what the analysts trusted by the all-powerful market thought the stimulus's effect had been. The answer was unambiguous: It cushioned, but did not wipe out, the effects of the recession. And that's not Democrats talking or Republicans talking. It's private analysts who, as Brad DeLong points out (http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2009/11/the-people-who-sell-their-forecasts-to-paying-clients-believe-the-stimulus-is-working.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BradDelongsSemi-dailyJournal+%28Brad+DeLong%27s+Semi-Daily+Journal%29), are paid to deliver accurate information to their clients.
The electorate, of course, rewards actual conditions, not conditions relative to a hypothetical scenario in which ameliorative policies weren't adopted. But it's evidence that there's no actionable coherence clause in American politics that critics of the stimulus can argue against the effort on the grounds that joblessness is too high. If you think joblessness is too high and something should be done to lower it, then you think we should have more stimulus, not less.
By Ezra Klein | November 25, 2009; 9:30 AM ET