Conservatives have been claiming for years that Obama’s stimulus was an abject failure while liberals and the Obama Administration have claimed that the stimulus either worked well or (as Paul Krugman believes) needed to be even bigger. New economic research indicates that conservatives were right.
According to this article, which is based on this study, the “stimulus resulted in a net loss of 595,000 jobs from April 2009 to September 2010.” The study’s findings go on to state:
the stimulus created or saved 443,000 government jobs and 92,000 non-HELP [that’s Health and education, leisure, and business and professional (HELP)] service jobs. But it destroyed or forestalled 772,000 HELP jobs and 362,000 goods-producing positions. That’s a net loss of 1.042 million private jobs.
It is impossible to “prove” anything beyond a reasonable doubt in economics and other studies claim better results, but the idea that we needed bank bailouts and stimuli lest America’s economy crater into a second “Great Depression” is just silly.
Hmmm. At this point I’ll wait for some discussion from the critics before I come to any conclusion on this report. But on the surface I’m struggling. Here’s why.
During the past couple years I’ve made four long distance driving trips and have encountered more than a few road construction projects funded by the ARRA. Those dollars paid for not only construction personnel but also the materials, fuel, spare parts down to the personnel who manufactured and delivered all the things needed. But according to the report there was no creation or job saves in manufacturing, only in government and HELP services. Huh?