Thousands of people who lost their jobs this week may beg to differ, but today the Federal Reserve released a survey which suggested the recession may be over. According to this AP story by Jeannine Aversa, 11 of the 12 Federal Reserve regions returned the opinion that economic conditions in their area were “stable” or becoming that way.
This despite the fact that all but a small fraction of the “stimulus” money has not been spent yet, as much of the spending was slated for 2010 – naturally, an election year.
Thus, the questions I have are as follows:
- Given the rapid recovery, was the stimulus even necessary – or did we bankrupt coming generations simply to grease the wheels on a lot of pork projects?
- Can that spending be deleted from the FY2010 budget since it’s not underway yet? The next fiscal year begins at the end of this month.
- Does the prospect of nationalized health care and the increased taxes needed to pay for it return us to a “double dip” recession, with perhaps one or two quarters of modest growth followed by another plunge from continuing stubborn unemployment combined with rising inflation brought about by a falling dollar (thanks in part to that very same Federal Reserve) and spiking energy costs?
As one who subscribes to the economic theory that money is best managed by the private sector, it seems to me that if the government stimulus was truly about jumpstarting the economy they would now quickly get out of the way and give the remainder of the promised stimulus money back to the taxpayers. Instead, Congress may simply shift money around to something they consider “good for us” like nationalizing health care or “investing” in favored technology like renewable energy rather than allowing the market to determine the best uses for the money. It’s their usual modus operandi.
Alas, the prospects of OUR tax dollars being returned to us because – as the Fed says – the recession is over are probably in line with the odds of the Detroit Lions winning this year’s Super Bowl. (It pains me to say that because I happen to be a Lions fan, but one sure can’t accuse me of being a fair-weather fan in this case. Just a realist.)
While recessions are temporary things, it’s certainly worth paraphrasing Ronald Reagan and reminding readers that government programs like the stimulus are forever. That is unless we have the courage to stand up, take a little bit of sacrifice, and make sure that Congress reflects a more Constitutional view of its duties when we select them the next time.
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A definite great read..Jim Bean