The Obama administration continues to push the "stimulus" bill with the same lines we've heard all along.
Joe Biden: "Every economist, as I've said, from conservative to liberal, acknowledges that direct government spending on a direct program now is the best way to infuse economic growth and create jobs" (December, link).
Obama: "There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy" (January 9, link)
Obama: "Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don't act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment and the American dream slipping further and further out of reach" (January 3, link)
Rahm Emmanuel: "Everybody, I think, from economists on the left to economists on the right realize that we must make critical investments at this time" (January 18, link).
Obama: "Every economist, even those who may quibble with the details in the makeup of the package will agree that if you’ve got a trillion dollars in lost demand this year and a trillion dollars in lost demand next year then you’ve got to have a big enough recovery package to actually make up for all those lost jobs and lost demand" (February 5, link).
During this entire time, economists "from across the political spectrum" have been voicing their disagreement, but His Hopeness keeps pushing the same line. Even many economists who favor the theory of fiscal stimulus (Feldstein, Sachs, etc.) are against this one because it is not a fiscal stimulus. It is a $1 trillion manifestation of long-time Democrat agendas being called a "stimulus" by its disingenuous proponents.
The word for this is dishonesty. In case Obama's disciples are still, after all this time, believing the lies coming out of his mouth, here are just a few of the economists who disagree with him:
- Hundreds of economists signed the CATO manifesto declaring their disagreement with the President (link).
- Of the IDEAS world's top 20 economists, 6 have opined against the stimulus and only 2 in favor (link).
- Greg Mankiw has been keeping a list, which includes himself, Burt Malkiel, Alberto Alesina, Robert Barro, Gary Becker, John Cochrane, Eugene Fama, Robert Lucas, Kevin Murphy, Thomas Sargent, Harald Uhlig, and Luigi Zingales (link), Martin Feldstein, Alice Rivlin, Harold Cole, Lee Ohanion, and Doug Irwin (I'm sure I've missed some).
- Other's I've noticed: Arnold Kling, James Hamilton, Nouriel Roubini, Jeffrey Sachs, and William Easterly (anyone familiar with the development literature knows that a Sachs/Easterly agreement is a big deal).
So, as it turns out, not "every economist" agrees with the Pork Plan, and Obama knows it. So why does he keep being dishonest? Is this Change We Can Believe In?
