Economists see no need for more stimulus
Msnbc.com panel expects sluggish growth, high unemployment for 2010
No more stimulus, please, we're capitalists.
That’s the view, at least, of the majority of economists surveyed in msnbc.com’s year-end roundtable. Though unemployment will remain stubbornly high, and the economic recovery sluggish in 2010, the government doesn’t need to provide another round of stimulus spending to keep the economy afloat, they say.
The House last week narrowly approved a $155 billion “jobs” bill that includes nearly $50 billion in infrastructure spending and $79 billion for expanding benefits like unemployment insurance and Medicaid. But most of the forecasters in our panel are against the idea of another government stimulus package.
“The time to short-circuit the negative feedback from job losses is behind us,” said Ed Leamer is director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. “Let the private sector heal the economy.”
Many feel the $787 billion package of tax cuts and new spending enacted in February spurred the rebound in the second half of this year. As the impact of that stimulus wears off, the expectation is that private spending by consumers and businesses will create enough demand to take up the slack.
“You have a floor (on growth) that comes from the fact that there’s an awful lot of latent demand out there that will slowly be tapped into,” said Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors.
The consensus of msnbc.com’s forecasters is that while growth will fade a bit next year, the economy will continue to expand at a slow but steady pace. After a 3.3 percent increase for the second half of 2009, gross domestic product growth is expected to slow to 2.6 percent for all of 2010, picking up a bit to 2.8 percent in 2011.
“Although the risk of a double-dip recession is still significant, it is not the most likely scenario,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. “Moreover, there are no silver bullets when it comes to fueling employment. I think our efforts would prove better if focused on improving the health of the credit market, most notably banks, as they are now the only game in town for many consumers and small businesses.”
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34452363/ns/business-personal_finance/__________________________________________________________________________
I personally think this is a pile of horsecrap, but I thought I'd throw it out there as the confidence (cockiness?) of these buffoons is at least something worth discussing.
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