January 8, 2009

Economic Stimulus Message to Obama

Below is a message I just sent to "Comments" at www.Change.gov (will anyone read it? Probably a young staff person, who will be slightly more educated as he or she engages others in Washington, DC.)

A bit wonkish, but...

You don't have to pay Paul Krugman, but you should heed his advice. Too much tax cut, as a stimulus, won't be effective.
1. Some of it goes into savings.
2. Much of it goes to cheap goods from WalMart/Chnia
3. It is merely consumption, not investment, e.g., in infrastructure.

As a State government manager, I urge you to a) fund local government jobs, b) fund design work, not just "shovels in the ground." Designer jobs are jobs too and we can expect to need well over a year of stimulus, so today's designs will be tomorrows "shovels in the ground."

Psssst... Do Something

Click on the Change.gov link above and leave a message for Obama's young staffer. You'll feel better for it.

Sources:

Thanks to Paul Krugman for the motivation on this one.

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2 comments:

libhom said...

To me trying to use tax cuts shows how out of touch the politicians are with the problems in everyday peoples' lives. People are cutting back because they are afraid to lose their jobs, not because of the specific amount of money they have.

Good job!

GDAEman said...

The Jan-Feb Issue of Mother Jones Magazine has some good material about this.