Revisiting the Stimulus Plan - Austan Goolsbee

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/22/A_Conversation_with_US_Chief_Economist_Austan_Goolsbee

White House Economic Adviser Austan Goolsbee revisits the U.S. Government's 2009 economic stimulus package, and gives his take on what he would have liked to change about the plan in retrospect. "If it were up to me, I would have put more money in the state fiscal relief," says Goolsbee.

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Economics adviser to Barack Obama during the campaign, and now a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Austan Goolsbee is a key figure in framing the economic thinking of the Obama administration.

Perhaps most importantly for Silicon Valley, he's an economist clued in to the tech world. His economics papers cover such topics as the impact of taxes on technology diffusion, the impact of internet subsidies on public schools, and the economic impact of leisure time spent on the internet.

He's worked closely with Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein of Nudge fame, and thinks a lot about the power of default options to shape behavior, a topic that any web developer should also know by heart. - Web 2.0 Summit

Austan Goolsbee is a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. Goolsbee is also serving as staff director and chief economist on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Goolsbee was the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was an economic adviser to Barack Obama's 2004 Senate race before becoming a senior economic adviser to Senator Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign.

He is a member of the panel of Economic Advisers to the Congressional Budget Office, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a research fellow at the American Bar Foundation. He is a Senior Economist to the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute. He is also a frequent contributor to the New York Times. He was recently a Fulbright Scholar and a recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship.

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[superiorgreen]

I completely disagree with the ghouls idea that the government IS the solution through giant cash infusions. The money does not come from dirt. That is America's hard earned wealth he is talking about giving away in a giant "New Deal" type expansion of reliance on government. We pay taxes so the government gan make it disappear with as little service as possible. The stimulus boosted the stock market and bank profit margins, on the taxpayer back. Every debt must be paid, quit spending foolishly

[Mastikator]

What occurs when a government creates more fiat currency bills and uses it is that it tricks the economy that there are more resources to go around, and takes some of the actual resources without giving anything of real value in return.

It creates a "high" if you will, quickly followed by a "low", a recession when the economy realizes that not only did it not have those resources, but now even has less.

It works like a drug. And it feels good like a drug. And now we're addicted to it.

[mrkirb]

Far out, I can't believe you are still arguing against fiscal stimulus. In a recession the economy is not at full employment. There are idle resources: unemployed workers, unused factories, abandoned plots of land etc. Government can increase effectively provide a free lunch by employing these idle resources. The debt is somewhat concerning in the long term; but the short-term priority is recovery. In the long term healthcare and tax reform can reduce the deficits.

[Nuanceqwest]

Ships going down and the Govt cant do nothing to stop it.

Nothing.

[7jerryv7]

Eliminate foreclosures for those owning ONE home.

Purchase the surplus of homes and take them off the market until the next increase in housing demand.

Eliminate layoffs by subsidizing all endangered jobs.

Put the regulations back in place that were repealed on the banking and financial sectors. Plus, put some more into place for good measure.

Shoot any politician or business man that starts bitching.

[superiorgreen]

Watch Money as Debt. Learn how fractional banking works, it IS your $1.92 arguement. A dollar inflated to $1.92 is not 1 dollar as in 100 cents worth of gold or silver. You can't get something from nothing in economics, every action has a cost and a benefit, you cannot get one without the other. A dollar spent here came from or took away from the total dollars available over there. Over there being America's wallet.

[superiorgreen]

Yes. Controled economics vs. natural supply and demand.

[janrar]

The Venus Project

[tslipsitin]

The whole system doesn't work. period. Try telling that to rich person though. And that is also the major problem. This is also a cultural and social neuroses. Example: Bill Gate's 50 billion is food being withheld from a portion of the 1 Billion people starving right now. Who needs 50 billion to live a comfortable full life? How about 10 billion ? How about 1? Madonna's net worth is 230 million and she can do what ever she wants and lives like a queen. So is 230 million enough? much less i bet.

[Robfenix]

The money does not "disappear." In fact, it goes further with up to $1.92 of economic activity for every $1 spent, whereas, if it were sitting in bank accounts it would be doing very little stimulus.

Could you define what "money" is? I think once you do that, you may understand the illogicality of your statement.

[Aaberg123]

Isn't it just Keynesian economics?