Stimulus Bills Quotes

“Most economists would concede that, in theory, government has the tools to smooth the business cycle. The problem is that fiscal policy is not made in theory; it’s made in Congress. For fiscal policy to be a successful antidote to recession, three things must happen: (1) Congress and the president must agree to a plan that contains an appropriate remedy; (2) they must pass their plan in a timely manner; and (3) the prescribed remedy must kick in fast. The likelihood of nailing all three of these requirements is slim. Remarkably, in most postwar recessions, Congress did not pass legislation in response to the downturn until after it had ended. In one particularly egregious example, Congress was still passing legislation in May 1977 to deal with the recession that ended in March 1975.17 At the end of the relatively mild 2001–2002 recession, the New York Times ran the following headline: “Fed Chief Sees Decline Over; House Passes Recovery Bill.” I’m not making this stuff up.

Wheelan, Charles J.. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (p. 214). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.”
― Wheelan, Charles J.

“I was fond of saying, “A bad stimulus is better than no stimulus, and a bad stimulus is what we got.”

Wheelan, Charles J.. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (p. 215). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.”
― Wheelan, Charles J.