This blog contains posts and comments written by students in Dr. Tufte's economics classes at Southern Utah University.
4/14/2009
Obama Sees...
I read an article from the New York Times called "Obama Sees More Pain Now but Hope Later on Economy." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/business/economy/15obama.html?_r=1&hp The article discusses a speach given by Obama on the economy, in his speech, Obama states that the near $800 billion stimulus plan was "starting to generate signs of economic progress." I agree that we are starting to see signs of improvement in many of the economic indicators (ie. the stock market). Assuming the economy has turned the corner (which I am in no way stating, only hoping), perhaps it is/was due to the injection of Obama's stimulus plan. But I for one feel it is too early to tell whether or not the turn-around is a direct result of Obama's stimulus. People have been talking about a turn-around since late last year. In my opinion, we were due for a turn-around. The inefficient companies failed (more would have failed had the government not bailed out the entire world) and the stronger companies are left to carry on. I think the reason for the recent upswing in the stock market, and hopefully the economy, is because businesses have reduced waste. They have slashed costs in order to save, and are now position to succeed for the future. I tend to agree with Obama that the worst is over and that rough times are still ahead of us. I'm just not quite ready to bow down and worship Obama because he saved us from economic collapse.
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Just as we have discussed in class, I think it will take years of analyzing to figure out the moments or decisions that helped the economy recover. The economy may have very well fixed itself without any stimulus money. Some things seem to indicate it would have possibly fixed itself faster without help. I can’t count on two hands how many times I saw news on the T.V. of an Obama administration official releasing an announcement of more government assistance being immediately followed by a drop in the stock market. Some will praise Obama for fixing the economy; some will blame him for dragging it out and making things worse. And the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Oh come on, we all know that Obama is our savior. Well...at least that's what the democrats say, and the democrats are never wrong (sarcasm). It is very difficult to determine exactly who or what fixed the economy. It is very likely though that it was actually the Bush stimulous because most of the effects of the Obama stimulous haven't had enough time to be greatly effective yet.
I for one am not for or against Obama or his stimulus plan. I try to avoid political discussions becuase most peopple are so fanatic and ignorant at the same time. Anyways, Obama has to say that his stimulus is doing good. He can't come out and tell everyone about all the crap that it may be causing and even if it did absolutely nothing he would still say that. Who wants to have wasted 800 billion?? I agree that a turn around is needed and that signs are being seen of one. Whether or not we can attribute that to Obama's stimulus or just the natural process of economics we can't say. But I wouldn't put either of those ideas out.
I just love how Obama is so quick to try and take credit for any possible signs of economic recovery, especially when there is little correlation between the actions of a particular administration and the business cycle as Dr. Tufte explained in class. Of course it is far too early to make any such assumptions.
I think Sophia's tone is appropriate. Obama is right to point out the brightening picture. But, there are a lot of other factors at work, so perhaps he shouldn't claim much credit.
I would add that, what exactly do we expect him to do, not claim credit? Kudos to Calvin for pointing that out.
If you think that stimulus packages work, then it is far more plausible that what we are seeing is coming from Bush's not Obama's. And, if that's the case, we should see a hugely booming economy in a year or two from Obama stimulating an economy that didn't need it too much. My guess is that this won't be the case, suggesting that perhaps neither package worked.
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