GeckoFood's Journal: [misc] Why I believe the stimulus package is going to fail

I have limited space on the title so I will clarify here first - "Why I believe the stimulus package will fail to meet its objective of stimulating the economy and why I think it's a horrific mistake". There, that's better.

Obama is about to sign into effect a "stimulus" package this morning that will start funneling money into the system. The idea is to get the lending market moving again. Essentially, this is supposed to be a big, economic laxative. Will it work?

1. We're pouring around $800,000,000,000 into the economy. That's a lot of money! But, where is it coming from? WE DON'T HAVE IT. It's simply a numbers thing where the government is lending what it does not have.
2. If the money is not there yet we are injecting more dollars into the system, shouldn't that mean the dollar will be majorly devalued as a result? Darn right it will. You can count on your money being worth a LOT less, very soon.
3. Ok, so people start spending money again. On what? Almost everything in this country anymore has a small sticker on it. Almost all of those stickers say "Made in China". Whose economy does that help?
4. What happens if the bailout doesn't work? All of a sudden, the govermnent has nearly another trillion dollars in debt to deal with - and, don't pin that one on W, he didn't sign it.
5. How did we get here? We got here by BAD CHOICES and living beyond our means. Doesn't having the government throw money into the system equate to getting a mulligan? That runs contrary to how things should work. If you make a bad choice, there are usually consequences, not "do-overs".
6. I can't imagine what my kids will have to deal with when they are grown up. This will have fallout for YEARS to come. WW2 is what got us out of the depression last time, but I suspect we will be much more encumbered in WW3 (when/if it happens).

I believe that this bailout has to be one of the most irresponsible things our government has done. No, the government doesn't have to bail out anyone. Actions lead to consequences, and people who made bad choices should pay - instead, EVERYONE pays this way.

Everyone pays the other way as well

[Marxist Hacker 42]

You forgot 7 & 8
7. The deflationary hole in our economy is $650,000,000,000,000. Let me try a bit of ASCII art to compare that to the current stimulus:

$800,000,000,000

$650,000,000,000,000.
This means that there is a real danger that the stimulus is too small, not too large.

8. Too small a stimulus mean years, perhaps decades, of deflation. Too big a stimulus means MAJOR hyperinflation. It's also entirely possible that we'll end up with both- this stimulus won't work, so it will

Everyone will pay

[Philip K Dickhead]

That's socialism for the risk - but not the rewards and profit! That's for the billionaires, my friend.

But read the Asia Times article our friend posted yesterday. Friedman and Chicago School economics? It's all a fraud, and this is just a tiny, fraud within a fraud.

Re:

[Philip K Dickhead]

The A Times article is in Zogger's journal:
http://slashdot.org/~zogger/journal/223859 [slashdot.org]

Well recommended. Completely describes the fraud behind the entire notion of an "economy" under Friedman rules.

Yep.

[Shadow Wrought]

We have become a society that eschews personal responsibility. Everything is always someone elses fault, whether its your parents, your teachers, or the government, no one is expected to think for themselves anymore. It's pretty sad, actually.

moof

[Bill Dog]

Actions lead to consequences, and people who made bad choices should pay - instead, EVERYONE pays this way.

See also: the 2008 election.

Which was just a continuation of the bad choices people *have been* making. The fiscally irresponsible vote for, naturally, more fiscal irresponsibility.