"I worry that it's too small" . . . Paul Krugman re: Obama's $250 billion jobs plan . . .

[OneBlueSky]

Referencing Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, which created millions of jobs, Krugman said Obama's effort was a fraction as big. "This is not FDR. This is mini-FDR right now," he said.

Panel ponders challenges facing the incoming president

http://www.lohud.com/article/20081124/NEWS02/811240339

(snip)

Whether Barack Obama's presidency ends up worthy of a memorial such as Mount Rushmore or is relegated to the has-been column of history will depend on how he responds to the economic crisis confronting the country today.

That was the message at yesterday's Westchester Community College Foundation President's Forum: "Ruffles, Flourishes and Challenges: Issues Facing the New President and Congress."

The panel discussion, moderated by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions President Lester Crystal, featured two historians, political columnist Rich Lowry and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.

In a two-hour talk attended by almost 400 people, the panelists pondered the historical significance of the nation's first black president, debated whether the country has made an ideological shift to the left of the political spectrum, and questioned whether Obama's plan to create 2.5 million jobs would be ambitious enough to revive the ailing economy.

- more . . .

http://www.lohud.com/article/20081124/NEWS02/811240339

for the record, I happen to agree with Krugman . . . in an earlier post, I questioned whether Obama had a handle on just how big a task he's facing, and whether he has the fortitude to initiate the massive kinds of changes that will be required to make a dent in it . . . it all revolves around how willing he will be to take on the mega-corps and their lobbyists, who have essentially run Washington for the past eight years . . .

being a centrist (or a right-centrist) won't cut it . . . he's going to have to come out swinging and take it right to the captains of industry and finance whose greed and stupidity got us into this mess in the first place . . . he also needs to tell them that they will no longer be writing the laws and regulations that govern their industries . . .

from my perspective, his goal of inclusiveness doesn't seem to square with going after the bad guys . . . he'd rather "bring them into the fold," I guess . . . that's not what's needed right now, not by a long shot . . . he needs to tell them, in no uncertain terms, that their reign of terror over the US economy is over, that their industries will be strictly regulated, that offshoring good jobs will not benefit them, and that anyone caught doing anything illegal will held accountable for their actions . . . that he doesn't seem ready and willing to take these kinds of steps worries me, because without them real progress in any area will be difficult, if not impossible . . .

[suston96]

1. delete

[charlie]

3. There's a dollar sign you missed n/t

[babylonsister]

2. No worries, Paul. I hear it's increased...

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1108/Schumer_stimulus_package_500700_billion.html

Schumer: $500 billion to $700 billion stimulus

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday that he thinks the economic stimulus package should be between $500 billion and $700 billion.

In an interview with ABC's "This Week," Schumer said, "I believe we need a pretty big package here." He added that Congress is working on getting the economic package to President-elect Barack Obama by Inauguration Day. "I think it has to be deep. In my view, it has to be between $500 and $700 billion, and that's because our economy is in serious, serious trouble."

"It's a little like having a new New Deal, but you have to do it before the Depression. Not after," Schumer added.

[warrior1]

4. Didn't you see the dollar sign?

The statement is correct.

[RoyGBiv]

5. It's difficult to allay that worry ...

It's hard to know what enough actually is. It would first require at least knowing where precisely we are, and I don't know that we have a genuine definition of what "where we are" even means.

What we know is that FDR didn't do enough. I believe it was Krugman who said a week or so ago that any stimulus package put forward should be based on the best available data ... with an added 50%.

[tjwash]

6. "I worry that it's too small." The cause of all the worlds wars, and hummer ownership.

nt

[sandnsea]

7. People don't get how bad it is - yet

When they do, they won't care what the government has to do to fix it. Somebody is going to have to give an economics lesson though, to help people put these astronomical amounts of money into some sort of context. Plus, we have to do something about the investor economy because that is clearly a bad idea.