On August 24, the Congressional Budget Office released its latest estimate of the economic impact of the stimulus program. It continues to estimate a small but positive effect. CBO director Doug Elmendorf summarized the findings in an August 24 blog post.
In an August 23 analysis, Northern Trust economist Paul Kasriel argues that the contraction of bank credit has offset all of the stimulative impact of the fiscal stimulus program.
On August 17, Brookings Institution economist Gary Burtless published an article evaluating the impact of last year’s stimulus package. He believes that it deserves much credit for preventing another Great Depression.
On August 11, economist Jared Bernstein of Vice President Biden’s staff posted a commentary criticized an assertion by House Minority Leader John Boehner that there is $400 billion to $500 billion of unspent stimulus money. Bernstein says that Boehner’s estimate is far too high, citing an August 10 analysis by the St. Petersburg Times newspaper.
Also on August 11, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released a study of last year’s stimulus program. It concludes that while the weight of evidence suggests that it did provide a short-term boost for the economy, it’s impossible to say how much.
In an August 10 commentary, Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Solow urged Congress to enact additional fiscal stimulus.
I last posted items on this topic on August 10.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Read his most recent column here. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
