American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Difference between revisions

Economists such as [[Martin Feldstein]], [[Daron Acemoğlu]], National Economic Council director [[Larry Summers]], and [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] winners [[Joseph Stiglitz]]<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/business/obama-s-800bn-stimulus-may-not-be-enough-1.1234541 Obama's $800bn stimulus may not be enough], Irish Times</ref> and [[Paul Krugman]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25krugman.html | title=Stimulus Gone Bad |work=The New York Times | first=Paul | last=Krugman | date=January 25, 2008 | access-date=April 23, 2010}}</ref> favored a larger economic stimulus to counter the economic downturn. While in favor of a stimulus package, Feldstein expressed concern over the act as written, saying it needed revision to address [[consumer spending]] and unemployment more directly.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_01_30_Harvard_prof_slams_stimulus_plan:_Dems___800b_%E2%80%98mistake_ | title=Harvard Prof Slams Stimulus Plan | work=Boston Herald | date=January 30, 2009 | access-date=February 2, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930112843/http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_01_30_Harvard_prof_slams_stimulus_plan:_Dems___800b_%E2%80%98mistake_ | archive-date=September 30, 2012 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Just after the bill was enacted, Krugman wrote that the stimulus was too small to deal with the problem, adding, "And it's widely believed that political considerations led to a plan that was weaker and contains more tax cuts than it should have – that Mr. Obama compromised in advance in the hope of gaining broad bipartisan support."<ref>{{Cite news| last = Krugman| first = Paul| author-link = Paul Krugman  | title = Failure to Rise| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]| page = A31| date = February 13, 2009| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/opinion/13krugman.html?_r=1| access-date =February 15, 2011}}</ref> Conservative economist [[John R. Lott|John Lott]] was more critical of the government spending.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487425,00.html |title=Obama's Stimulus Package Will Increase Unemployment – Opinion |publisher=Fox News |date=February 3, 2009 |access-date=February 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215212728/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C487425%2C00.html |archive-date=February 15, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On January 28, 2009, a full-page advertisement with the names of approximately 200 economists who were against Obama's plan appeared in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. This included [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] laureates [[Edward C. Prescott]], [[Vernon L. Smith]], and [[James M. Buchanan]]. The economists denied the quoted statement by President Obama that there was "no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy". Instead, the signers believed that "to improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://cato.org/special/stimulus09/cato_stimulus.pdf | title=Cato Institute petition against Obama 2009 stimulus plan | access-date=February 9, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203170743/http://cato.org/special/stimulus09/cato_stimulus.pdf | archive-date=February 3, 2009 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The funding for this advertisement came from the [[Cato Institute]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/mound-city-money/us-economy/2009/01/economists-say-stimulus-wont-work |title=Economists say stimulus won't work |date=January 29, 2009 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=February 1, 2010 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090712112057/http%3A//www%2Estltoday%2Ecom/blogzone/mound%2Dcity%2Dmoney/us%2Deconomy/2009/01/economists%2Dsay%2Dstimulus%2Dwont%2Dwork/ |archive-date=July 12, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>