Economy stimulus plans amount to quackery
Published in the Tennessean , July 21, 2009 Economy stimulus plans amount to quackery By Richard J. Grant Politicians have two talents: 1) ignoring or hiding the full costs of their projects, and 2) pretending that their stated intentions are as good as results, even when their projects can't possibly succeed. The so-called "stimulus" plans of the current and previous administrations exhibited both of these characteristics. They cost far more than we were told, and provided stimulus in name only. Worse than that, their net effect is de-stimulus. Belief in "stimulus plans" is to economics what bloodletting was to medicine. Such economic quackery persists because it serves political interests. As the signs of recession, such as job losses and mortgage defaults, began to show up in the economy, politicians at all levels came under pressure to "do something." So they did. The result was one of the biggest agglomerations of pork-barrel projects in history. ...