The safety net and the recession

[babylonsister]

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/the_safety_net_and_the_recession/

The safety net and the recession
By Lawrence Mishel
October 8, 2009


"Some claim somehow that the recovery package isn't working by simply pointing to continued job losses. I consider this peculiar, especially from those who favored the policies that actually caused the recession to begin with," Economic Policy Institute (EPI) President Lawrence Mishel said in testimony to Congress on October 8, where he proposed a five-part strategy for creating and preserving jobs, and stressed that the causes of today’s high unemployment pre-date President Obama.

"I consider President Obama to be in the situation of having inherited a burning apartment building. He proceeded to gather all the available fire trucks and douse the fires in half the floors. Yet his critics complain that the other floors are still on fire. Even worse, those critics are the ones who started the fire. And they want to withdraw the fire trucks."

"It should be pointed out that unemployment is certainly higher than was expected at the time of the (presidential) election. This is not due to any policy failure. Rather, this is due to an embarrassing failure of my profession, economists, to assess the future. In the November Blue Chip review of forecasts, the GDP decline over the last half of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 was expected to be at a 1.5% rate, a mild decline. Yet, we know now that the economy shrank three times as fast, at a 4.9% rate. Correspondingly, the forecasts in November (2008) expected an unemployment rate in the first quarter of 6.9%, but the actual rate was 8.1% with unemployment at 8.5% in March."

Referring to the six million jobs lost between the start of the recession and March 2009, Mishel said, "This is hardly the fault of the Obama administration."

[jwirr]

1. I wonder if they have ever considered what would have happened

if the stimulus money for the banks would have all gone into job creation?

[cutlassmama]

2. I wonder who they would have blamed if McCain had been elected?

[babylonsister]

3. Now there's a good question. nt

[sendero]

4. Whether you like it or not.

.... Obama owns this debacle. He didn't create it but he's doing nothing really about it.

If the economy is not really recovering in 2012, and it almost certainly will not be, Obama and the Dems will be drummed out of Washington.

You can bet on it.

[bobbolink]

5. I'm not catching the part about the "safety net"....?