Can Someone Do The Math On This For Me?
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
We are in the midst of an outpouring of sales promotions coming from various federal agencies, telling us how great the world is because of the federal stimulus projects that were made possible because of spending the $787 Billion that was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. I also have been reading through the news clippings on the way more than 2 million jobs were either created or saved through the spending of the $787 Billion. Without this action, we are supposed to believe that the American economy would not have survived as well as we have…
Given the location of where the money comes from in order to spend the $787 Billion it started me thinking about what that much money is going to cost (as opposed to the wonderful gains that have been made and how fantastic things are today). I also attempted to figure out how to calculate the costs-benefits of spending $787,000,000,000,000 to get 2,000,000 jobs (I’m not even going to try to make the point that the “created” or “saved” thing is a pure plant growth stimulator).
Also not in the mix of my wondering was what would the economic benefit be for the private sector to not have to pay the $787,000,000,000,000 -plus interest back. In other words if American citizens got to spend the $787,000,000,000,000 the way that they would choose to spend for themselves, what would the benefit be from that outcome?
I attempted to figure out the payrolls that would need to be “created” or “saved” to make the math work out for the 2,000,000 jobs…using my fingers and toes didn’t get me close to an answer and even when I tried to do the calculation with Excel…all I got was an error message. I guess the computer must know something that they don’t in Washington, D.C.
We are in the midst of an outpouring of sales promotions coming from various federal agencies, telling us how great the world is because of the federal stimulus projects that were made possible because of spending the $787 Billion that was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. I also have been reading through the news clippings on the way more than 2 million jobs were either created or saved through the spending of the $787 Billion. Without this action, we are supposed to believe that the American economy would not have survived as well as we have…
Given the location of where the money comes from in order to spend the $787 Billion it started me thinking about what that much money is going to cost (as opposed to the wonderful gains that have been made and how fantastic things are today). I also attempted to figure out how to calculate the costs-benefits of spending $787,000,000,000,000 to get 2,000,000 jobs (I’m not even going to try to make the point that the “created” or “saved” thing is a pure plant growth stimulator).
Also not in the mix of my wondering was what would the economic benefit be for the private sector to not have to pay the $787,000,000,000,000 -plus interest back. In other words if American citizens got to spend the $787,000,000,000,000 the way that they would choose to spend for themselves, what would the benefit be from that outcome?
I attempted to figure out the payrolls that would need to be “created” or “saved” to make the math work out for the 2,000,000 jobs…using my fingers and toes didn’t get me close to an answer and even when I tried to do the calculation with Excel…all I got was an error message. I guess the computer must know something that they don’t in Washington, D.C.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 2/17/2010 5:05 PM 
Categories: Federal Stimulus
Tags: Federal Budget Taxes Economy Federal Spending
Categories: Federal Stimulus
Tags: Federal Budget Taxes Economy Federal Spending
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