Economic Recovery

Isaiah J. Poole's picture

Toxic Flaws In The Toxic Asset Plan

There are at least three serious flaws in the financial rescue plan that the Treasury Department has put forward for the banking system that financial expert and Institute for America's Future board member Rob Johnson lays out in an interview with Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake. more »


Isaiah J. Poole's picture

Toxic Flaws In The Toxic Asset Plan

There are at least three serious flaws in the financial rescue plan that the Treasury Department has put forward for the banking system that financial expert and Institute for America's Future board member Rob Johnson lays out in an interview with Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake.

More »»


Isaiah J. Poole's picture

How To Withstand Deficit Sticker-Shock

News that the federal deficit is approaching $2 trillion will be trumpeted as an excuse to not enact President Obama's budget proposals. Our pushback has to be immediate and hard. Fortunately, one of our allies is already on the case.

More »»

Progressive Tax Policies Won't Harm Small Businesses

CONservative Spin:

“The tax increases proposed by the Obama administration for people earning more than $250,000 a year will hurt small businesses, and will lead to less job creation and investment. ”
Isaiah J. Poole's picture

PROgressive Response:

The number of small-business owners who would be affected by this tax increase would actually be very small, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities and the Brookings Tax Policy Center.

First, less than 9 percent of people with any small business income have incomes of over $250,000. The remainder would actually get a tax cut under President Obama's tax plan. Second, only 1.9 percent of small-business owners pay taxes at above the 28 percent tax bracket. Third, many of the people who would be affected by the proposed tax increase are actually passive investors who have no direct role in managing the businesses, including multimillion-dollar hedge-fund managers. Plus, small businesses whose owners are paying taxes on their profits at the personal tax rate have other options for lowering their tax bill.

What small-business owners will get with this tax change, however, is policies that will lower their health care costs over time, help them shift to green-energy sources, strengthen schools so they can draw from a better-educated labor pool and a better transportation grid for their goods and their workers. And those changes will have a positive impact on their bottom line that will outweigh the small tax increase a few might pay.

 Source

Chye-Ching Huang, Jason Levitis, and James Horney, "Very Few Small Business Owners Would Face Tax Increases Under President Obama's Budget," Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, February 28. 2009.

The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century

Publication Type:

Report

Source:

(2005)

URL:

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=I8D8tWG851kC&oi=fnd&pg=PA67&dq=Bailey+fiscal+stimulus&ots=yb7om_6ZeN&sig=Zu1Iy2eKHz7qqnVfQXShzbzo5Os#PPA1,M1

Keywords:

Economic Recovery

Abstract:

In contemporary American political discourse, issues related to the scope, authority, and the cost of the federal government are perennially at the center of discussion. Any historical analysis of this topic points directly to the Great Depression, the "moment" to which most historians and economists connect the origins of the fiscal, monetary, and social policies that have characterized American government in the second half of the twentieth century. In the most comprehensive collection of essays available on these topics, The Defining Moment poses the question directly: to what extent, if any, was the Depression a watershed period in the history of the American economy?

The Promise of Public Investment

Publication Type:

Report

Authors:

William Milberg

Source:

Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (2007)

URL:

http://www.newschool.edu/cepa/publications/books/08_SCEPA_BOOK5_02.pdf

Full Text:

For decades now, we have been improvident, shortchanging our own future by putting too little money with too little
forethought into our essential infrastructure. To give a few salient examples, we need to reinvigorate our air, rail, and
highway transportation systems; repair and strengthen our electrical grid and develop renewable sources of clean energy; preserve our water resources; and subsidize research and development in order to stay at the forefront of science and technology. These are necessities that only government can deliver. It is time to invest our money wisely, in projects that will pay off in many ways, for many years.

Assessing the Macro Economic Impact of Fiscal Stimulus 2008

Publication Type:

Report

Authors:

Mark M. Zandi

Source:

Moody’s Economy.com (2008)

URL:

http://www.economy.com/mark-zandi/documents/assissing-the-impact-of-the-fiscal-stimulus.pdf

Keywords:

stimulus

Full Text:

The president and Congress are quickly coalescing around a fiscal stimulus plan to shore up the flagging economy. As currently envisioned, the plan is expected to cost at least $150 billion and include a sizable tax rebate, short-term tax incentives for business investment, and temporary increases in unemployment insurance benefits and food stamps. This stimulus will not prevent a recession if one is already on its way, as its benefits will not be realized until summer; however, it could substantially mitigate the severity of any downturn.

Fiscal Stimulus: Is More Needed?

Publication Type:

Report

Source:

The Levy Economics Institute (2008)

URL:

http://www.levy.org/pubs/sa_apr_08.pdf

Full Text:

Because we agree that the current economic situation is quite dire, we explore in this Strategic Analysis the possibility of an additional fiscal stimulus of about $450 billion spread over three quarters. We start from a plausible baseline projection, which we obtain by updating and verifying our work for the November 2007 Strategic Analysis, but we do not initially include the effects of the recently passed stimulus plan. We then simulate the effects of that plan. Finally, we simulate the effects of a $600 billion stimulus spread over four quarters, starting in the third quarter of this year.