Why Did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Fail -- Or Did It?

Why Did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Fail -- Or Did It? PDF Author: L. Jan Reid
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Book Description
The United States Congress approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 13, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on February 17, 2009. ARRA was passed in response to widespread fears that the United States was in danger of slipping into a 1930s-style economic depression. After ARRA was enacted, related economic debate centered on tax reductions versus direct federal-government spending. Old arguments resurfaced about the effectiveness of the “New Deal” programs instituted by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt; the 1936-1938 recession; and the theoretical views of both Keynesian and neoclassical economists.Since ARRA was passed, a number of economists have criticized the effectiveness of the stimulus program. Criticisms have ranged from arguments that “the stimulus was too small to be effective” to assertions of ARRA's failure to address the shortage of qualified workers in the labor force.I briefly review some of these arguments and conduct empirical tests to determine their validity.

Why Did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Fail -- Or Did It?

Why Did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Fail -- Or Did It? PDF Author: L. Jan Reid
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Book Description
The United States Congress approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 13, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on February 17, 2009. ARRA was passed in response to widespread fears that the United States was in danger of slipping into a 1930s-style economic depression. After ARRA was enacted, related economic debate centered on tax reductions versus direct federal-government spending. Old arguments resurfaced about the effectiveness of the “New Deal” programs instituted by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt; the 1936-1938 recession; and the theoretical views of both Keynesian and neoclassical economists.Since ARRA was passed, a number of economists have criticized the effectiveness of the stimulus program. Criticisms have ranged from arguments that “the stimulus was too small to be effective” to assertions of ARRA's failure to address the shortage of qualified workers in the labor force.I briefly review some of these arguments and conduct empirical tests to determine their validity.

Seven Steps for States and Regions to Prepare for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Seven Steps for States and Regions to Prepare for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act PDF Author: Workforce Strategy Center
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) the federal government is pumping nearly $790 billion dollars into state and local coffers to strengthen the United States economy. In order to stimulate the economy as quickly as possible, states are being asked to invest much of this funding into regions within 30 days, and to have the funding obligated and spent within the next 18 months. In addition to getting the money out quickly, states and regions have the enormous challenge of having to figure out how to make the best and most strategic use of the funding. Most important, is how to do this so that low-income youth and adults can attain the postsecondary credentials they need to earn family sustaining wages. Presented in this paper are some basic steps states and regions might consider taking to determine how to use the stimulus. First, there are three points to keep in mind: (1) ARRA funding, and whatever system might be created with the stimulus and other available dollars, "are the means to an end"; (2) the goal is to get people jobs and jump start the economy; and (3) to have a sustained effect, short-term actions need to be part of a long-term plan.

The New New Deal

The New New Deal PDF Author: Michael Grunwald
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451642342
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 627

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Book Description
In a riveting account based on new documents and interviews with more than 400 sources on both sides of the aisle, award-winning reporter Michael Grunwald reveals the vivid story behind President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus bill, one of the most important and least understood pieces of legislation in the history of the country. Grunwald’s meticulous reporting shows how the stimulus, though reviled on the right and the left, helped prevent a depression while jump-starting the president’s agenda for lasting change. As ambitious and far-reaching as FDR’s New Deal, the Recovery Act is a down payment on the nation’s economic and environmental future, the purest distillation of change in the Obama era. The stimulus has launched a transition to a clean-energy economy, doubled our renewable power, and financed unprecedented investments in energy efficiency, a smarter grid, electric cars, advanced biofuels, and green manufacturing. It is computerizing America’s pen-and-paper medical system. Its Race to the Top is the boldest education reform in U.S. history. It has put in place the biggest middle-class tax cuts in a generation, the largest research investments ever, and the most extensive infrastructure investments since Eisenhower’s interstate highway system. It includes the largest expansion of antipoverty programs since the Great Society, lifting millions of Americans above the poverty line, reducing homelessness, and modernizing unemployment insurance. Like the first New Deal, Obama’s stimulus has created legacies that last: the world’s largest wind and solar projects, a new battery industry, a fledgling high-speed rail network, and the world’s highest-speed Internet network. Michael Grunwald goes behind the scenes—sitting in on cabinet meetings, as well as recounting the secret strategy sessions where Republicans devised their resistance to Obama—to show how the stimulus was born, how it fueled a resurgence on the right, and how it is changing America. The New New Deal shatters the conventional Washington narrative and it will redefine the way Obama’s first term is perceived.

The End of an ARRA

The End of an ARRA PDF Author: Carl Vogel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
In the winter of 2009, with more than 1.4 million job losses in the first two months of the year, the federal government passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law as a way to quickly inject liquidity into a stalling economy and maintain critical services that would allow individuals and communities to survive through the recession. At first glance, New York City made out pretty well. More than $7 billion in Recovery Act funds went to programs benefiting New York City residents, which was more than many entire states received. These funds went toward failing schools, community development block grants, building retrofits and a much needed temporary increase in the federal match for Medicaid, among many other things. The most important way of assessing these investments has always been in terms of the jobs saved and people helped, but from the beginning it was also hoped that Recovery Act investments would provide a unique opportunity for policy innovation and reform. In no policy area was this truer than in workforce development. And in no other city would the payoff and potential pitfalls be clearer than in New York, the country's largest workforce development system. The 2009 federal stimulus brought a huge infusion of funds to New York City for job training and workforce development; with the money now running out, the authors examine how the funds were spent and what the end of this funding stream means at a time when countless New Yorkers are still out of work. The Programs are appended. (Contains 16 endnotes.).

Money Well Spent?

Money Well Spent? PDF Author: Michael Grabell
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610390105
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
The 2012 presidential campaign will, above all else, be a referendum on the Obama administration's handling of the financial crisis, recalling the period when Obama's "audacity of hope" met the austerity of reality. Central to this is the ''American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009'' -- the largest economic recovery plan in American history. Senator Mitch McConnell gave a taste of the enormity of the money committed: if you had spent 1 million a day since Jesus was born, it still would not add up to the price tag of the stimulus package. A nearly entirely partisan piece of legislation -- Democrats voted for it, Republicans against -- the story of how the bill was passed and, more importantly, how the money was spent and to what effect, is known barely at all. Stepping outside the political fray, ProPublica's Michael Grabell offers a perceptive, balanced, and dramatic story of what happened to the tax payers' money, pursuing the big question through behind-the-scenes interviews and on-the-ground reporting in more than a dozen states across the country.

Governing Under Stress

Governing Under Stress PDF Author: Timothy J. Conlan
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1626163707
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The underappreciated but surprisingly successful implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) helped rescue the economy during the Great Recession and represented one of the most important achievements of the Obama presidency. It tested all levels of government with urgent time frames and extensive accountability requirements. While ARRA passed most tests with comparatively little mismanagement or fraud, negative public and media perceptions of the initiative deprived the president of political credit. Drawing on more than two hundred interviews and nationwide field research, Governing under Stress examines a range of ARRA stimulus programs to analyze the fraught politics, complex implementation, and impact of the legislation. Essays from public administration scholars use ARRA to study how to implement large federal programs in our modern era of indirect, networked governance. Throughout, the contributors present potent insights into the most pressing challenges facing public policy and management, and they uncover important lessons about policy instruments and networks, the effects of transparency and accountability, and the successes and failures of different types of government intervention.

What Have We Learned?

What Have We Learned? PDF Author: George A. Akerlof
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262529858
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Top economists consider how to conduct policy in a world where previous beliefs have been shattered by the recent financial and economic crises. Since 2008, economic policymakers and researchers have occupied a brave new economic world. Previous consensuses have been upended, former assumptions have been cast into doubt, and new approaches have yet to stand the test of time. Policymakers have been forced to improvise and researchers to rethink basic theory. George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate and one of this volume's editors, compares the crisis to a cat stuck in a tree, afraid to move. In April 2013, the International Monetary Fund brought together leading economists and economic policymakers to discuss the slowly emerging contours of the macroeconomic future. This book offers their combined insights. The editors and contributors—who include the Nobel Laureate and bestselling author Joseph Stiglitz, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen, and the former Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer—consider the lessons learned from the crisis and its aftermath. They discuss, among other things, post-crisis questions about the traditional policy focus on inflation; macroprudential tools (which focus on the stability of the entire financial system rather than of individual firms) and their effectiveness; fiscal stimulus, public debt, and fiscal consolidation; and exchange rate arrangements.

The Great Recession

The Great Recession PDF Author: David B. Grusky
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610447506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Officially over in 2009, the Great Recession is now generally acknowledged to be the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression. As a result of the crisis, the United States lost more than 7.5 million jobs, and the unemployment rate doubled—peaking at more than 10 percent. The collapse of the housing market and subsequent equity market fluctuations delivered a one-two punch that destroyed trillions of dollars in personal wealth and made many Americans far less financially secure. Still reeling from these early shocks, the U.S. economy will undoubtedly take years to recover. Less clear, however, are the social effects of such economic hardship on a U.S. population accustomed to long periods of prosperity. How are Americans responding to these hard times? The Great Recession is the first authoritative assessment of how the aftershocks of the recession are affecting individuals and families, jobs, earnings and poverty, political and social attitudes, lifestyle and consumption practices, and charitable giving. Focused on individual-level effects rather than institutional causes, The Great Recession turns to leading experts to examine whether the economic aftermath caused by the recession is transforming how Americans live their lives, what they believe in, and the institutions they rely on. Contributors Michael Hout, Asaf Levanon, and Erin Cumberworth show how job loss during the recession—the worst since the 1980s—hit less-educated workers, men, immigrants, and factory and construction workers the hardest. Millions of lost industrial jobs are likely never to be recovered and where new jobs are appearing, they tend to be either high-skill positions or low-wage employment—offering few opportunities for the middle-class. Edward Wolff, Lindsay Owens, and Esra Burak examine the effects of the recession on housing and wealth for the very poor and the very rich. They find that while the richest Americans experienced the greatest absolute wealth loss, their resources enabled them to weather the crisis better than the young families, African Americans, and the middle class, who experienced the most disproportionate loss—including mortgage delinquencies, home foreclosures, and personal bankruptcies. Lane Kenworthy and Lindsay Owens ask whether this recession is producing enduring shifts in public opinion akin to those that followed the Great Depression. Surprisingly, they find no evidence of recession-induced attitude changes toward corporations, the government, perceptions of social justice, or policies aimed at aiding the poor. Similarly, Philip Morgan, Erin Cumberworth, and Christopher Wimer find no major recession effects on marriage, divorce, or cohabitation rates. They do find a decline in fertility rates, as well as increasing numbers of adult children returning home to the family nest—evidence that suggests deep pessimism about recovery. This protracted slump—marked by steep unemployment, profound destruction of wealth, and sluggish consumer activity—will likely continue for years to come, and more pronounced effects may surface down the road. The contributors note that, to date, this crisis has not yet generated broad shifts in lifestyle and attitudes. But by clarifying how the recession’s early impacts have—and have not—influenced our current economic and social landscape, The Great Recession establishes an important benchmark against which to measure future change.

Inflation and Activity – Two Explorations and their Monetary Policy Implications

Inflation and Activity – Two Explorations and their Monetary Policy Implications PDF Author: Mr.Olivier J. Blanchard
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513555839
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 29

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Book Description
We explore two issues triggered by the crisis. First, in most advanced countries, output remains far below the pre-recession trend, suggesting hysteresis. Second, while inflation has decreased, it has decreased less than anticipated, suggesting a breakdown of the relation between inflation and activity. To examine the first, we look at 122 recessions over the past 50 years in 23 countries. We find that a high proportion of them have been followed by lower output or even lower growth. To examine the second, we estimate a Phillips curve relation over the past 50 years for 20 countries. We find that the effect of unemployment on inflation, for given expected inflation, decreased until the early 1990s, but has remained roughly stable since then. We draw implications of our findings for monetary policy.

The Means to Prosperity

The Means to Prosperity PDF Author: Per Gunnar Berglund
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135991634
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
While recent developments in monetary theory have been fast to spread to policy analysis and practice and the media, the same is not true of fiscal policy, and a void has emerged. Issues such as timing, cyclical adjustments, long-term sustainability, and social implications are often seen as detached from discussions in the public arena. This book fills this gap. It delivers a keen assessment of the role and scope of current fiscal policy. New contributions and critical reviews of state of the art research analyze fiscal policy in terms of viability, potency, consequences and sustainability, and also shed light on its relation to economic and political ideas. The general tone of this volume is cautiously favourable of fiscal activism, although the emphasis is placed more on medium-term adjustments than on short-term ‘fine-tuning’. The authors believe that the legacy of the last fiscal revolution has been an excessively negative view of deficits and debt, and believe that this volume will contribute to open a dialogue on fiscal issues, and bring back a more balanced view of fiscal policy. With contributions from leading authorities including Barbara Bergmann, Jeffrey Frankel and David Colander, this is a major new contribution to the field.