The Stimulus Trap....interesting article by Krugman

[Jennicut]

"As soon as the Obama administration-in-waiting announced its stimulus plan — this was before Inauguration Day — some of us worried that the plan would prove inadequate. And we also worried that it might be hard, as a political matter, to come back for another round.

Unfortunately, those worries have proved justified. The bad employment report for June made it clear that the stimulus was, indeed, too small. But it also damaged the credibility of the administration’s economic stewardship. There’s now a real risk that President Obama will find himself caught in a political-economic trap."

Krugman goes on to talk about what Obama should do now:

"As I said, I was afraid this would happen. But that’s water under the bridge. The question is what the president and his economic team should do now.

It’s perfectly O.K. for the administration to defend what it’s done so far. It’s fine to have Vice President Joseph Biden touring the country, highlighting the many good things the stimulus money is doing.

It’s also reasonable for administration economists to call for patience, and point out, correctly, that the stimulus was never expected to have its full impact this summer, or even this year.

But there’s a difference between defending what you’ve done so far and being defensive. It was disturbing when President Obama walked back Mr. Biden’s admission that the administration “misread” the economy, declaring that “there’s nothing we would have done differently.” There was a whiff of the Bush infallibility complex in that remark, a hint that the current administration might share some of its predecessor’s inability to admit mistakes. And that’s an attitude neither Mr. Obama nor the country can afford.

What Mr. Obama needs to do is level with the American people. He needs to admit that he may not have done enough on the first try. He needs to remind the country that he’s trying to steer the country through a severe economic storm, and that some course adjustments — including, quite possibly, another round of stimulus — may be necessary."http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/opinion/10krugman.html?bl&ex=1247371200&en=a0ddbfdb1569336c&ei=5087%0A

What do you guys think? I don't always agree with Krugman but I have nothing against him either.
A ton of people jumped on Biden for admitting the administration misread the economy but here Krugman says they should admit mistakes. However, Krugman thinks they should put the idea for another stimulus out there. Like he says, it may not be politically feasible to do that and it probably was not feasible to get more to begin with.

[MercutioATC]

1. I think the problem that many have is that it was targeted wrong.

Many people are less concerned about the size than they are about the content.

If the first stimulus hadn't turned into a pork monster and we hadn't spent so much non-stimulus money on the economy already, I'd feel a lot more open to the idea of some further stimulus...and I think a lot of people feel the same.

[Jennicut]

3. I don't think its a pork monster but I do think its too soon to say that we need another one

[LaurenG]

2. Krugman is right/was right about the economy and

President Obama does need to be seen as a strong leader while working as fast as he can to undo and patch up this mess, but I agree he should admit that he may not have done enough on the first try.

I know Obama is NOT perfect and his clay feet are starting to show, which in my opinion is healthy, but I'd be more forgiving if he'd just stop picking people from Monsanto and stop choosing other well known jerks or at least explain what his thought process behind his picks are.

edited to add a word

[BlooInBloo]

4. I tended to agree with Krugman at the time, that the stimulus was too small....

Doing whatever is necessary to get a 2nd helping seems reasonable. For the going forward part, though, I'm more curious about whether Obama will somewhat change his lineup of people he listens most closely to, in some way or another.

[NC_Nurse]

5. I think he needs to blame Republicans. They could only get 3 Repub votes and

those cost them a bunch of cuts to the stimulus package. They also have been hoping it would fail and are ready to
declare it a failure ASAP. They need to be called out for their cowardice and negativity. They were willing to spend billions and
more billions on the crap that Bush wanted - especially the wars and his stupid tax cuts. They got us into this mess and have NO
ideas for getting us out. They just sit by and throw stones.

They failed. Their policies got us into this mess and won't help us get out. They are just a bunch of blowhards who refuse to admit they are WRONG and
people want them to stop obstructing.

[mopinko]

6. healthcare is a stimulus

:shrug: there is a lot that can be done without calling it a stimulus. energy credits. student loans. add you own.