I think it was in Buisnessweek. One of the examples was a laundry firm in Chicago that hired some more employees as a result of stimulus. The owner states he didn't actually have the buisness to hire new employees, but he wanted to take advantage of the stimulus money and hoped when it ran out he'd be able to keep the people. ROFL!!!!! So, how do I get a job where I get paid to do a job for which there is no work??? The guy puts people on the payroll who are doing nothing! They are the next best thing to most government jobs, only problem for them is they will be let go when the lottery for the owner runs out. If they had taken the time to get an actual government job they would have been employed for life, had benefits for life. Well soak it in while you can I guess is the theory. These people get counted as employed by stimulus, what a pile of crap those numbers are.
The adminstration claims the stimulus "created or saved" approx 2 million jobs. I wonder if they believe it themselves.
but isnt that exactly what the republicans propose to get business hiring? they propose to cut business taxes to stimulate hiring but you run into the same problem this businessman did. he really didnt have any work for them to do. without demand from consumers business will not hire even at 0 taxes.
What "real" unemployment rate? For which age group, in what region, in what sector, etc.? The overall average is nearly meaningless it's so vague. Anyway, to the OP... in theory, and undoubtedly in practice, those laundry firm employees spent their paychecks, so there was stimulus, no matter how contrived. Do you believe there was too much stimulus, or too little? Those are the real questions. That the stimulus caused spending is a fact.
Most fed spending should be on infrastructure and defense The rest of it just delays reality. We need unemployment benefits which taper off. We need to eliminate the income tax We need to create tariffs to raise revenues and bring back jobs. We need the federal govt to live off the tariff money. We need to stop financial lobbying. We need the state legislatures to vote for US senators We need to have property owners voting That is utopia and it worked.
Several years down the road, people will quote the "created or saved" bit as a joke to imply some number is wildly inflated. Like: "So, how much did Dave make day trading?" "He 'created or saved' 200 grand in his first month, he says."