A majority of economists believe the United States does not need a second stimulus package, according to a new poll from the Wall Street Journal.
In the survey, 43 of the 51 economists rejected calls for another round of government stimulus, with one person commenting that it would be “dangerous to pile on more federal debt atop a mountain of debt.”
Other reasons cited against a stimulus 2.0 had to do with concerns over pork-barrel spending and the fact that very few of the funds from the first $787 billion stimulus had been spent so far.
The poll’s results also revealed misgivings many of these academics have with the federal government’s first Keynesian attempt to fix the economy.
Nearly half of those surveyed thought that the first $787 billion stimulus package had only a small effect or hurt the economy – not exactly the responses our nation’s leaders should be looking for after passing the largest fiscal stimulus in U.S. history.
Whether or not the WSJ poll has any impact on Congress’ erratic reasoning is hard to say. But if anything, it reinforces the message that large groups of economists wholeheartedly disagree with this administration’s fiscal approach.
And that, at least, is a start.
– James Quintero