The best known economic research firms are all saying that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (federal stimulus) has added between 1.6 and 1.8 million jobs. They further report that they expect the ultimate impact will be closer to 2.5 million. The Congressional Budget Office actually considers these numbers to be conservative.
The New York Times offers a few charts that give some interesting perspective, far beyond the partisan right wing talking points. Whether it is jobs, the GDP, or the stock market, the impact of the Recovery Act has been very effective. It is too bad that so many on the right are too invested in the failure of our economy to see the positive signs.
As an aside: Think Progress has tallied 110 legislators that voted against the stimulus but then touted the funding back at home. As has been noted elsewhere, Paul Ryan is certainly on the list of stimulus hypocrisy.
UPDATE: The Center for American Progress has launched an interactive map showing how many jobs were created/saved by the ARRA.
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2 comments:
I love that job loss downward bell curve chart that's been making the rounds. Things are looking up. Perhaps this November won't be as dismal as we were expecting.
Exactly, jim. The hidden truth is that the stimulus has worked as a stabilization policy, and the groundwork is laid for a decent comeback for the economy in 2010. The problem is that the long-term mess left by Bush and co. means there has to be serious changes yet to come, and probably some limiting of growth in future years.
But the disaster has been averted, and it's about da*n time people get reminded of it. Somehow, I'm thinking voters aren't going to support the GOPpers updated version of "Back to the Future" this Fall.
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