Paul Krugman hopes the stimulus bill works and is disgusted with the Republicans.
One might have expected Republicans to act at least slightly chastened in these early days of the Obama administration, given both their drubbing in the last two elections and the economic debacle of the past eight years. ... (T)he rhetorical response of conservatives to the stimulus plan — which will, it’s worth bearing in mind, cost substantially less than either the Bush administration’s $2 trillion in tax cuts or the $1 trillion and counting spent in Iraq — has bordered on the deranged. ...
There’s still time to turn this around. But Mr. Obama has to be stronger looking forward. Otherwise, the verdict on this crisis might be that no, we can’t.
One thing do know is that Obama certainly has moves in place to get around or through the Republicans' obstruction plans.
Showing posts with label American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Show all posts
Feb 13, 2009
Feb 11, 2009
Obama Needs to Nationalize
Update II: Krugman - "Nationalization is actually as American as apple pie."
Update: Time Magazine - "According to Reuters, there are over 8,300 FDIC-insured banks in America. Last August, dour economist Nouriel Roubini told Barron's that 1,400 banks in the U.S. would eventually fail."
The Obama administration can pivot fast, but there is no doubt that Wall Street and policymakers (some of whom are being earnest) want more specificity on how Obama will manage the bank bailout plan.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, Obama needs to move decisively on the bank bailout with lots of a details, clear timeliness and delineated scope in a manner that would make project management professionals proud.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner didn't provide any of that yesterday.
As David Mizner at Daily Kos notes, one suggestion that is growing among our top economists is: Nationalize the banks we now subsidize. See Krugman, Stiglitz, Roubini, Taleb, Baker Agree: Nationalize.
The voters don't care about free market ideology (such as it is) and what the pundits will say to nationalization: They want decisive action now as bleeding jobs turn the futures of Americans bleak.
As Krugman writes this morning, "And the argument that our culture won’t stand for nationalization — well, our culture isn’t too friendly towards bank bailouts of any kind. Yet those bailouts are necessary; and even in America they may be more palatable if taxpayers at least get to throw the bums out. Oh, and not a week goes by without the FDIC taking several smaller banks into receivership. Nationalization is actually as American as apple pie."
Update: Time Magazine - "According to Reuters, there are over 8,300 FDIC-insured banks in America. Last August, dour economist Nouriel Roubini told Barron's that 1,400 banks in the U.S. would eventually fail."
The Obama administration can pivot fast, but there is no doubt that Wall Street and policymakers (some of whom are being earnest) want more specificity on how Obama will manage the bank bailout plan.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, Obama needs to move decisively on the bank bailout with lots of a details, clear timeliness and delineated scope in a manner that would make project management professionals proud.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner didn't provide any of that yesterday.
As David Mizner at Daily Kos notes, one suggestion that is growing among our top economists is: Nationalize the banks we now subsidize. See Krugman, Stiglitz, Roubini, Taleb, Baker Agree: Nationalize.
The voters don't care about free market ideology (such as it is) and what the pundits will say to nationalization: They want decisive action now as bleeding jobs turn the futures of Americans bleak.
As Krugman writes this morning, "And the argument that our culture won’t stand for nationalization — well, our culture isn’t too friendly towards bank bailouts of any kind. Yet those bailouts are necessary; and even in America they may be more palatable if taxpayers at least get to throw the bums out. Oh, and not a week goes by without the FDIC taking several smaller banks into receivership. Nationalization is actually as American as apple pie."
Jan 30, 2009
Shambles
Update: From the National Journal's Congressional Insiders' Poll of 40 Democrats (by Richard E. Cohen and Peter Bell): "Roughly how much longer do you expect the recession to continue?"
6 months or less - 3 percent
7 to 12 months - 15 percent
13 to 23 months - 63 percent
24 months or longer - 20 percent
---
The results of Bush's industrial policy, wars and crony capitalism, are plain to see in this morning's news.
"The United States economy shrank at its fastest pace in a quarter century from October through December, the government reported on Friday, in the broadest accounting yet of the toll of the credit crisis. Consumer spending and business investment all but disappeared, and economists said the painful contraction was likely to continue at an alarming pace well into the summer," reads the lede in the New York Times.
Other economists are much more pessimistic, and those shorting the Dow and watching for the moment when it drops below 6,000 are making the best out of what author Dave Lindorff explains is an economy that will not endure:
Bottom line: Nothing Obama proposes is too much in his stimulus package to clean up this mess. And Republicans complaining about any spending on any earmark resemble someone yelling about a piece of litter left in the yard as a tornado approaches.
6 months or less - 3 percent
7 to 12 months - 15 percent
13 to 23 months - 63 percent
24 months or longer - 20 percent
---
The results of Bush's industrial policy, wars and crony capitalism, are plain to see in this morning's news.
"The United States economy shrank at its fastest pace in a quarter century from October through December, the government reported on Friday, in the broadest accounting yet of the toll of the credit crisis. Consumer spending and business investment all but disappeared, and economists said the painful contraction was likely to continue at an alarming pace well into the summer," reads the lede in the New York Times.
Other economists are much more pessimistic, and those shorting the Dow and watching for the moment when it drops below 6,000 are making the best out of what author Dave Lindorff explains is an economy that will not endure:
Over the last 20 years, America has degenerated into a nation of consumers, with 72 percent of Gross Domestic Product (sic) now being accounted for by consumer spending--most of it going for things that are produced overseas and shipped here.
That is not an economic model that is sustainable, and it is a model that has just suffered what is certainly a mortal blow.
Bottom line: Nothing Obama proposes is too much in his stimulus package to clean up this mess. And Republicans complaining about any spending on any earmark resemble someone yelling about a piece of litter left in the yard as a tornado approaches.
Jan 29, 2009
Not A Single Republican Votes For Stimulus
Not A Single Republican Votes For Stimulus, Passes 244-188 reads a headline in the Huffington Post.
Are House Republicans nuts, doctrinaire, or what? Aren't they worried about the consequences of the absence of a huge stimulus bill?
The most compelling conclusion is that the GOP is a diminishing political party fighting cultural ghosts and praying for their version of America that never really existed except when America allowed slavery.
Today's national GOP is fighting for a version of feudalism.
This is a society where the vast majority of citizens work in low-paying jobs and the state exercises powerful control over its citizens who exist to serve to the state and corporate interests and not the other way around.
Are House Republicans nuts, doctrinaire, or what? Aren't they worried about the consequences of the absence of a huge stimulus bill?
The most compelling conclusion is that the GOP is a diminishing political party fighting cultural ghosts and praying for their version of America that never really existed except when America allowed slavery.
Today's national GOP is fighting for a version of feudalism.
This is a society where the vast majority of citizens work in low-paying jobs and the state exercises powerful control over its citizens who exist to serve to the state and corporate interests and not the other way around.
Jan 28, 2009
Economist Nouriel Roubini Becoming a Rock Star
Update II: House passes Obama stimulus bill 244-188.
Update: AP: "President Barack Obama says businesses and workers are counting on Washington for 'bold and swift' action to steady the struggling economy."
The economist Nouriel Roubini is becoming a rock star as the media around the world clamor for interviews.
Roubini, chair of the Global EconoMonitor, has like Paul Krugman been prescient in warning against the type of economic catastrophe that the United States and the world are facing.
And like Krugman Roubini is proposing massive stimulus programs to ward off the type of recession that would mortally wound millions of working families, and especially those families who have lost jobs and are looking unsuccessfully.
But Roubini, also known as Dr. Doom, is not into feel-good music; he predicts negative growth for 2009.
On the political side, the GOP prescription for families: Tough shit, let the market sort it out likely will not fly if Roubini's predictions are anywhere in the ball park.
See also:
- Obama, Dems need to expose true GOP financial philosophy to get stimulus relief -- A BuzzFlash News Analysis
- A Hole Worth Digging
Update: AP: "President Barack Obama says businesses and workers are counting on Washington for 'bold and swift' action to steady the struggling economy."
The economist Nouriel Roubini is becoming a rock star as the media around the world clamor for interviews.
Roubini, chair of the Global EconoMonitor, has like Paul Krugman been prescient in warning against the type of economic catastrophe that the United States and the world are facing.
And like Krugman Roubini is proposing massive stimulus programs to ward off the type of recession that would mortally wound millions of working families, and especially those families who have lost jobs and are looking unsuccessfully.
But Roubini, also known as Dr. Doom, is not into feel-good music; he predicts negative growth for 2009.
On the political side, the GOP prescription for families: Tough shit, let the market sort it out likely will not fly if Roubini's predictions are anywhere in the ball park.
See also:
- Obama, Dems need to expose true GOP financial philosophy to get stimulus relief -- A BuzzFlash News Analysis
- A Hole Worth Digging
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