Thursday, February 12, 2009

New vs. Old Stimulus (Updated)

As I've stated before, I'm kind of a socialist.

So I've been thinking today. How is this new stimulus package compared to what FDR (my favorite president) did with his New Deal during the Great Depression?

What got us out of the Depression? My answer to this question is that it was two things - both WWII and the New Deal. Would the New Deal have been enough? Because the war we are in today is not going to get us out of the slump.

How did the federal spending imposed by the New Deal compare to the proposed federal spending with this new stimulus package? Would be interesting to compare wouldn't it?

I did a quick internet search trying to find some analyst out there who has run this comparison, but I couldn't find one. I may try to figure it out myself if I get ambitious.

UPDATE:  From what I have been able to find on the internet, the New Deal spent between 10 and 13% of the GDP where the new stimulus package is only 5.5% of last years GDP.

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