The Cato Institute purchased a full-page ad in major newspapers across the country listing the names of several hundred top economists including several Nobel Laureates who object to massive deficit spending as an economic stimulus. Cato scholars and ad signatories have made their case on television since the spending program was proposed.

Those Economist signed the following petition to the President. "We do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."

The original document can be found here:

http://cato.org/special/stimulus09/alternate_version.html (less info)