rssWhite House Chief Economist: Let the Bailout Work
Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 2:46 pm
- 2 Comments
In what might be a preview of a tough partisan battle ahead, the Bush administration’s chief economic adviser said Thursday that the Wall Street bailout (the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP) is “the appropriate” strategy to address the nation’s sputtering economy.
Congressional Democrats are hoping to move a new stimulus package next month that would create jobs through vast new infrastructure spending and help for states. But speaking to reporters, Edward Lazear, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, seemed to reject that strategy:
We believe the appropriate stimulus right now is the $700 billion stimulus that comes in the form of the TARP. That’s a huge amount of money, and we believe that it’s targeted at exactly the right thing.
Lazear’s comments came just hours after the Commerce Dept. announced that the nation’s economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the third quarter. The news did little to discourage his belief that thawing the credit freeze would alone right the economy.
What we’re seeing in terms of consumption and some of the other things that you mentioned are actually the symptoms. The cause is the credit market difficulty, and we think that it’s important to get at that directly. So we believe that the $700 billion TARP will be the right way to do it.
Who said the partisan fireworks would end Nov. 4?
2 Comments
Comment posted October 30, 2008 @ 1:24 pm
I find it interesting to look at a figure such as $700 billion and no longer consider it “that much money.” It seems that the federal government is thinking the same thing, too, what with the national debt clock already running at $10.3 trillion and only rising! Times are scary, no? The U.S. economy has surely taken quite a hit over the past few months. Many people are still confused with the state of the economy — and where the candidates stand in regard to fixing it. With a recession and the need for reform on the minds of a majority of Americans, I thought readers might be interested in two non-partisan guides we’ve put together here at Public Agenda on the economy (http://publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides/…) and taxes, spending and debt (http://publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides/…). Feel free to check these out and get back to me with any questions. Thanks again for an informative piece!
Comment posted October 30, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
I find it interesting to look at a figure such as $700 billion and no longer consider it “that much money.” It seems that the federal government is thinking the same thing, too, what with the national debt clock already running at $10.3 trillion and only rising! Times are scary, no? The U.S. economy has surely taken quite a hit over the past few months. Many people are still confused with the state of the economy — and where the candidates stand in regard to fixing it. With a recession and the need for reform on the minds of a majority of Americans, I thought readers might be interested in two non-partisan guides we’ve put together here at Public Agenda on the economy (http://publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides/…) and taxes, spending and debt (http://publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides/…). Feel free to check these out and get back to me with any questions. Thanks again for an informative piece!
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