Why The Stimulus Isn't Working: Q & A with economist Richard McKenzie

[GoGreenCo]

/watch?v=ESFVnZZegXs

I guess it did after all.

[Trimbler00]

I thinkt hat he's wrong because really the united states needs to give money to people becase they are really not doing well and this would be good for the economy because we have money just rich people havit who are kicking the pooor

[jm04206]

@Trimbler00 PHD level writing to be sure. Let me point something out you've probably never heard or thought of before. No one in the history of history has ever been employed by a poor person. So when you take money that rich people have you are always hurting the poor more than the right. A) rich people's spending provides income to businesses B) their savings invests in companies bonds/stocks for new products/plants and C) they directly employ individuals. Take their money, less for the poor

[Trimbler00]

@jm04206 If we redistribute wealth via health benefits and food stamps for the poor, we will create demand which will stimulate the economy. I understand your point that if we give tax breaks and give rich people more disposable income to reinvest back in their business we should stimulate the economy as well. But the former (redistribution of wealth) is more effective because the savings rate is higher for employers (high-income earners); that's why tax cuts yield less economic stimulus. (contd

[Trimbler00]

@jm04206 This has been objectively proven. Tax cuts have a lower multiplier effect (about 80 cents per dollar in economic stimulus) than food stamps ($1.30 per dollar)

[sarchisi]

I do not think this guy is in any way an economics professor. If he thinks 800 billion is going to turn this country around, it only goes to show how uninformed he is about the greatest collapse of an economic system where over 60% of it's people are unemployable. Think I'm wrong? Just wait and see. Unfortunately, the massive spending is only there temporarily to keep the heart pumping and not for recovery. And let's not start thinking this just happened within the last 2 years either.

[aviomaster]

More and more people moving from middle class to below poverty line , This will be the hammer which will break society.

[FRSFreeStatePlus]

The Recovery Act was never intended to return America to a strong economy pre 2008. But to level the floor of the "Great Recession". So a recovery could start happening.

[Joe402]

It's not working because it was watered down and not big enough.

[4lifejackhammer]

the broken window theory. good vid.

[bertly71]

As a sage friend of mine once said, "The stimulus was nothing more than a big liberal wet dream." PS: It made unemployment go up.

[bnfox]

last I heard, teachers and cops were being laid off in every state in the union but I guess Obama was thinking of something else when he championed all the teachers and cops hired....

[4lifejackhammer]

@bnfox they are calculating it in the same way the calculate spending cuts;

"we were going to spend this, but we are only spending this." likewise "we were going to lose this many, but we only lost this many." A statement that can never be vindicated or condemned from shear lack of evidence.

[bnfox]

@4lifejackhammer - Oh...like the phrase all Americans have grown to love - " the more you spend, the more you save!!! Come on down!!"

[campaign4liberty]

Jake Towne✌Stop The War✌Money Bomb March 29

dailypaul(dot)com

[MortuusTyrannus]

I am an economics major at UC Davis and I haven't come across any instructors that were not Keynesian. I guess that i should have gone to Irvine.

[DONGOE]

BHO is lying again....or at least misleading for the purpose of self promotion.

[DONGOE]

I think he lying again.......or at least misleading...with self promoting intentions.

[croissantanyone]

This guy is obviously a racist....I bet he wants to kill puppies too.

[ThePenWolf]

Keynes will not be dead. Why? Because to fascists like Obama, his economic policies are effective in one area: Amassing Power. That's is all these people care about. The nation could collapse all around them, but now everyone is finally equal, with the exception of the ruling class, which liberals always fail to understand. In a free market, anyone can be their own king. In a socialist system, only government can be a king. And they do not share power.

[CletusGoldsteinberg]

@ThePenWolf Calling Obama a fascist and criticizing liberals? And you call US elitists....

[CletusGoldsteinberg]

@ThePenWolf Oh brother...so I guess Fascism and socialism are very similar. I'd hate to be drinking out the same punch bowl as you.

[ThePenWolf]

This is why I stopped paying federal taxes.

[Nonoyawns]

turn the volume up.

[campaign4liberty]

Thank you - posted on dailypaul(dot)com

[landline00]

Sorry Obama worshipers. The truth hurts!

[flagship21]

thrid world pay compensation >>> going to the rich

[coffeebuzzz]

If I was broke and got a credit card to pay for consumer goods, would I be better off? NO.

I can't see how it is different for any Government to do this, all it does is ignore current problems and puts them off for another day.

[furyofbongos]

Hey buddy, where did the much of the money come from that pays your guaranteed salary?

[andristic]

go reason go

[averagejoe040]

Obama is such an incredible Lying total piece of shit.

I love the way McKenzie puts it "The medication is worse than the disease"

[TruthAxe]

Obama is one of the greatest performers, one of the greatest liars of all-time.

He shames his family.

[Joe77477]

Green technology is cost efficient. I'd love to get some solar panels and a windmill- not because I'm some environmentalist, but so I wouldn't have to pay a monthly electricity bill. The only problem is that the government keeps subsidizing oil, coal, and fossil fuels, so that the competition is in favor of those industries. We'd probably all be driving around electric cars and living in earthships if we had a free market.

[coffeebuzzz]

Indeed it is, the power companies just dont want you to know it. I have a PV system on my roof and haven't paid for electricity for over a year now, and i actually earn about $20-30 month. Our elec prices are set to rise 25% this year, so i'm even further in front now.

When we can buy elec' cars, i will no longer have to pay for fuel, just put another kW on the roof and I should cover my weekly energy needs.

The only maintenance needed is to wipe the panels down every 2 weeks.

[Joe77477]

@coffeebuzzz well lucky you....unfortunately the government has done just about everything in its power to keep electric cars off the road. It's funny how most "environmentalists" want more government, which is the reason why we're still using dirty fossil fuels in the first place.

[coffeebuzzz]

@Joe77477

Nothing lucky about it. I based my decision to use PV based on economics and facts, being green wasn't the driving force. Watching energy prices go up and PV technology going down, it was a no brainer. Didn't even get any government subsidies and i'm still in front.

I agree the government has put many hurdles in front of EVs at request of big oil but that is over now as car manufacturers know if they keep supporting oil, they will be out of business very soon.

[MooseOfReason]

Lol, who was the girl at 1:06?

I don't understand that.

[Mastikator]

In Sweden there is program called KY, it means qualified job education, it's purpose is to get people who want jobs that require higher education to learn only precisely what they need to learn, which means half or less of the time spent educating, and one third of that time is spent practicing.

This is what needs to replace the universities. People who want to learn things that have no practical use need to go to a library or look it up on the web, not waste society's money.

[libertyfizz]

@CLRubyHypatia I won't be surprised if a sales tax happens.

[BradLauber]

The fact that it is a college professor from the nanny statist-state of California that recognizes and speaks of the the evident failure of a stimulus based economy is encouraging. We are far to reliant on the political class to provide for us. We can only provide for ourselfs. How do you take 780 bil from the economy then put it back into the economy and think that you are doing any good? Its like taking $20 out of my pocket and giving me $18 back and then telling me i'm better off! FO BO

[Wormtail81]

I'd add this to a playlist, but employment is a lagging indicator. Capital investment drives economic recovery. (No, that does not mean I am a demand-sider.)

[yougiberishtube]

5 stars

[qtronman]

These universities should be abolished and all these professors should all let to go live on the street.

[libertyfizz]

@qtronman How about they all go private and have the rules changed sothey can fire professors. I would be all for that.

[oldhacks]

umm... why are you using "Fox" footage?

evil liars. thats you

[highonhayek]

"Social Ecology?" lol.

[oldhacks]

omg you idiots. we'd all be under water now if it weren't for the bail out?

move to iceland if you want to see how pretty we'd be sitting if we'd just let the banks fail.

fucking idiots.

[4lifejackhammer]

@oldhacks The crisis over there was not the failing of the banks, but what government tried to do about it. The borrowed money to pay the money to bank lenders, and created new banks. They borrowed this money from the IMF, at the request that they charge 18% prime interest from their central bank. Think about that rate for a minute. Prices are staying the same as their money is more scarce. their economy is poops because they are delaying the inevitable crash that must occur for progress to go.

[k1awdttt]

The opportunity cost of stimulus package is too high and unjustified.

But it's okay :)

The financial wizards that got us into this shit hole will craft an improved tonic for debt problems.

Soon, we will all have debts that take a few centuries to clear. Bank on it :P

[LazloDoe]

But my democrat congresswoman told me the stimulus already worked. She wouldn't lie to me would she?

[donotswallow]

Ha, this guy helped me learn econ on youtube.

/user/richardmckenzie

[singlespeak]

If we did not have to spend so much time and productive energy trying to figure out how to keep the government from stealing our money, we would be far more prosperous. I might not want to spend money on your stupid projects and bailouts that you need to get yourself re-elected.

[libertyfizz]

@singlespeak People are engaging in

tax avoidance which hurts the economy at

a greater rate than any stimulus project could

repair it. It is more about reward your political

friends and stick it to your political enemies.

[LiberaLib]

this guy is an ass and whoever made this video is an ass. i love how they just shoot random college students in an effort to smear them. what's with the girl with bad table manners at 1:05? what's she got to do with this? my guess is, nothing. but the filmmaker just decides to throw her in to make all college students look like assholes.

that's the way the baggers roll, when they're not mocking parkinson's victims. i notice these guys never talk about defense dept. handouts.

[natdavi]

omg you're the most ignorant person to comment on youtube all year

he was talking about mana, she was eating. go read a book

[johnycannuk]

And clearly you are an ass for completely missing the point...where does the stimulus money come from?

He is referring to Frederic Bastiat's "Broken Window Fallacy" and, frankly, to Econ 101, a class I take it you have never signed up for.

Your economy is circling the bowl, you currency on the brink of Zimbabwe like inflation because the fed is printing money out of thin air, and all you care about is how some college student looks?

You deserve to lose your country...

[LeGioNoFZioN]

@johnycannuk I couldn't have said that any better my fellow Canuck, some people are so clueless you just can't have much sympathy for them.

[Keylimedelight]

I think that the girl at 1:05 was quite cute actually, I don't think they were smearing.

I would like to see them do a video on the military industrial complex and i think they would do a good job with it. This are libertarians, not neo-cons.

[singlespeak]

That is false. They harp on defense spending and the war budget also.

[thedrizzle09]

@LiberaLib Thats because defense spending is suppose to be "Secret"; that way, if we do go into a war, the other foreign countries won't know how much we are spending. It's a last ditch means of protection of awareness.

[TruthBeyond]

@LiberaLib How dare she eat that cookie!

[oldhacks]

@TruthBeyond are you here to smear poop on the walls too? or did you get lost trying to find the price is right?

[EasyEs]

Can't wait to live in the Utopia you are building

[LeGioNoFZioN]

@LiberaLib that reminds me of the partisan hacks who decry military spending yet never met a government expansion they didn't like. Seems to me hypocrisy is a human condition not just a conservative or liberal one.

[highonhayek]

Thank you for your intelligent and well-reasoned reply. I wish that other commenters around the Tube were as articulate and convincing as yourself. The frequency with which you used the word "ass" is supporting your position just makes me want to get to know you more. Friend me, please!

[bubbathedm]

Actually the Reason Foundation is highly critical of waste within the DOD and every other federal agency

[TheProgressistViewer]

Yep, youre struck by the facts, you realize you were wrong, so all you got is insults ans non-sense. Call everybody an ass and then forget what you just saw, right in one ear right out the other. Go back to sleep, go live in ur lefty dream world. Leave grownups alone.

[robertmike57]

You'll never find Reason TV saying, Hey, that Drew Carey needs to pay double what he's paying in income taxes. These Libertarian sleazebags are all about greed, nothing more.

[tarossi400]

@robertmike57 So you would LIKE to pay double income taxes?

[robertmike57]

@tarossi400 Yes, if I was making what Drew Carey makes, due to all the socialist endeavors that allow making obscene amounts of money possible,, then

[sirellyn]

Actually it's about freedom and humility. Since when are you "all knowing" and figure out that Drew Carey should pay more to the pool of money than everyone else? Have you divinely judged him fat and greedy just by looking at him?

Do I get to look at you, decide I don't like you and then get the government to take more of your money so I can benefit?

And you are calling libertarians greedy sleazebags? You are one to talk.

[robertmike57]

@sirellyn You brain dead idiots love to set up your strawmen. I don't begrudge Drew Carey making millions, just that he should be paying at a 70% top rate. He benefits from copyright laws protecting him, not me. He gets progressivley more services, so he should pay progressively more. Libertarians are utterly lost where it comes to their one solution for everything crap.

[KaelinSaint]

@robert

Wow. Really? What happened to "All men, created equal?"

It's basic economics, punish people for making more money and they'll stop doing the things that make that money. More often than not one of those things is creating jobs. That sounds like a bright idea to me.

As to copyright laws and the services that you mention but don't elaborate on, those seem like strawmen in themselves Mr. Logic. Seems the main argument is about taxes, stick to it.

[sirellyn]

@robertmike57 You want to fix copyright laws?

Great. You assume you know variables that you don't. I don't

know how much rich person A uses the new tax paid convention center.

Maybe he hated the idea and railed against it. But in the end his

money was taken and spent on it. He didn't get a choice either way.

Do you like 50% of your taxes going towards defense spending and war?

So how are you supposed to decide whose deserving and who isn't?

[ND066]

If you notice that then its because you dont follow them. They can't talk about everything in a short video. However, a short statement from you clearly shows your ignorance.

[libertyplayground]

video is about keynesian economics, not college students.

[carcabe]

No argument or reason from you, just invective and irrelevancies. Bad table manners?! You actually saw somthing incidious in that.? Wasn't even bad manners. Doesn't take much to just call people asses rather refuting their arguments.

[tyvon2000]

@LiberaLib

You're a presumptuous ass... the guy is a professor at the university, the video opens discussing the university spending resources to try to obtain federal stimulus funds.

Clearly, the place is nice and isn't in dire need of stimulus funds. The professor even points out that some of the funds were going to well-off professors. This is why the stimulus failed - professors such as this guy have lifetime employment. No job was created or saved by them getting the money.

[Buffalo122333]

@LiberaLib

They put her in because she is pretty.

I thought she looked very ladylike.

[dirksilver]

@LiberaLib

[4lifejackhammer]

@LiberaLib can't say i noticed bad table manners. perhaps to show they are at college? The only one really thinking "OMG girl with bad manners." is you. I think. Not everyone agrees with your view of the world

[LiberaLib]

watch the video again. you obviously weren't paying attention.

[4lifejackhammer]

the point of my comment was not whether or not the girl had bad table manners; it was a question of who really cared. she ate with her hands, and covered it up when she saw some guy videotaping the act. "OMG, girl using hands, degrading!" You are blowing something out of proportion in an attempt to poison the well of the message with the stimulus.

[LiberaLib]

i think it all plays into a larger narrative the video is trying to tell that's anti-university, anti-education. they couldn't possibly be using this money for anything meaningful because they're selfish, they're slobs, etc. it's something you see a lot on the right, anti-university sentiments.

don't get me wrong, the trick with the bad table manners, just like a lot of the other tricks the video uses, is clever. but it's definitely done to trick and to defame.

[4lifejackhammer]

@LiberaLib is it "against" colleges, or against the idea that a graduate of college is any more qualified to run a country than a high school graduate? One of the big things with economists is that the free market works because every person looks for their own needs. So, is it tearing down college students, or making them human?

[0HippyHunter0]

@LiberaLib Anti-Education? That doesn't even make sense. There are no "tricks," but it is your job as a liberal to promise to your peers that there are. Why? Because it's impossible to understand why he'd be right given your ideology. How do I know this? Because what he's saying directly disagrees with the foundations of socialism/communism, and you'd defend that till the end of time. Ironically, this video isn't about politics, it's about the American people getting THEIR money back.

[XCritonX]

Welfare for the upper middle class "intellectuals" who advise the government to give money to the universities.

America needs a constitutional amendment that clearly states that the federal government can not raise tax monies for the purpose of redistribution of the wealth, either directly or indirectly. Simple, direct, and to the point.

Another amendment that would be good is to ban politicians who have run deficit budgets from running for public office again, or receiving government pensions.

[MenOnTrial]

Looks like this guy is delusional

[eonomen]

@MenOnTrial Looks like unemployment is higher than it ever has been sence that stimulus package.

[cooperbry]

@MenOnTrial

You clearly are.

[LiberaLib]

@MenOnTrial you know it, MOT. and this video is obviously only reaching the converted: conservative bitters who have education but let the military get away with murder.

minus me, lemmings.

[ls1z28chris]

You've obviously never read Reason magazine.

Go troll another channel.

[residentzombie]

lol Dude you are brainwashed by the mainstream media and see everything in life through the lens of either Republican or Democrat. ReasonTV is a Libertarian station. Educate yourself and learn what Libertarians stand for.

[Shadyhunter04]

@LiberaLib

Fuck you douche bag. How dare you call us conservatives.

[Betty5150]

@LiberaLib Your ignorance is outstanding. Not only is this video from ReasonTV, who are libertarian, and oppose the militarial industrial complex, but is intended for an audience that understands economics (yes, I am saying as you call them "conservative bitters" are economically ignorant, and only follow what the republican party says, even though same could be said with liberals and the democratic party.)

So please, go away with your Conservative Vs. Liberal bull shit.

[dirksilver]

@LiberaLib you are really really stupid

lemming

[MasterTxJ]

2:48

"We've reactivated the view that: some firms are too big to fail. Well, some people don't realize that this means that firms are going to become too be too big"

Great quote!

[whoo689]

Since when is 2 million jobs the difference between a recession and a depression, Mr. President? What a liar