How will government claim that enormous stimulus is not mindless spending?
*The Wall Street Journal, by Gerald F. Seib, December 9, 2008:
Santa Has to Bring a Reality Check
"Being Santa Claus is fun. Delivering the credit-card bills later is
much less fun.
And so it will be for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. He will get to
play Santa Claus at the outset of his term, telling people they can
spend hundreds of billions of dollars in the name of stimulus. Later,
of course, he'll have to play Scrooge, telling the country that the
bill has come due.
The challenge for the Obama team is making sure Americans in general,
and Congress in particular, remember that both roles lie ahead for the
new president. The task, in the words of one senior Obama aide, is to
make sure that people don't think the model for stimulus spending in
coming months is "backing in the Brink's truck and opening up the door."
More broadly, Mr. Obama's team needs to figure out whether there are
steps it can take at the outset to build its credibility on fighting
deficits in the long run, even as it accepts them in the short run.
Such measures are possible and would help calm financial markets as red
ink spreads.
If you listened closely to Mr. Obama over the weekend, you could hear
him warning people that big spending to stimulate the economy -- and
"big" now means a stimulus package something in the order of $500
billion by most estimates -- shouldn't mean mindless spending."
*This information is solely a highlight of the opinion of a third-party publication and is incomplete. Please subscribe to this publication for the full and timely opinion of the author and call a Monex Account Representative for any additional up-to-date information. This is not an offer to buy or sell precious metals. Investors should obtain advice based on their own individual circumstances and understand the risk before making any investment decision.
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