Dems Will Regret Not Being Bolder on Economy

Grim jobs outlook spurs talks on new stimulus measures

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration is examining new ways to boost the economy amid troubling unemployment statistics. The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress are considering strategies that include new transportation spending and an extension of tax credits for first-time homebuyers and small businesses struggling with operating losses. A proposal to offer employers $3,000 for every new hire has also been revived. More»

(NEWSER) - When the economic crisis turned terrifying last winter, Washington finally got its act together and passed a massive stimulus package. But now, writes New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, the US faces a slower but more dangerous "jobless recovery" over the next few years and an "utterly terrifying" climate crisis decades out. Faced with these long-term dangers, the government is acting like the metaphorical "boiling frog"—unaware that it's slowly dying. More»

(NEWSER) - After a meeting today with the administration's top economic officials, President Obama said he’s starting to see “glimmers of hope,” Bloomberg reports. The president noted that government loans to small business are up but cautioned, “We’ve still got a lot of work to do.” Factory orders are up for the first time since July and home buying continues to rise, but unemployment is expected to continue to climb. More»

(NEWSER) - The lousy unemployment numbers released this week—and they're bound to get worse before they get better—cast the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s fiscal plans into doubt, analysts say. The stimulus package intended to “save or create” 3.5 million jobs now has to keep up with 4.4 million jobs lost since the recession began. “I hate to break it to you,” one economist tells the Washington Post. “It’s not going to be enough.” More»

Call for bold action on economy followed by plan that falls a long way short

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama's call for aggressive action on the economy hasn’t been backed up by a plan bold enough to do the job, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. Plunging levels of investment and consumer spending will leave a gap of around $2 trillion between what America produces and what it can sell—and Obama's plan only offers $775 billion to fill that hole. More»