Communications

CBO “estimates” that the stimulus package passed in the beginning of this year has, “sustained between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs in the third quarter.”  CBO goes on to explain that their estimates are based on how “previous similar policies have affected the economy” and using “various mathematical models.” CBO adds that the exact impact of the stimulus on employment, based on recipients’ reporting, is impossible to verify, due to quality of data among other reasons.

First, why should the government, or the public for that matter, rely on estimates based on quality-challenged data like the reports from stimulus recipients?

And second, why rely on estimates and faulty data when we have tried and true data provided by the Department of Labor to assess the success or failure of the stimulus in adding jobs to the economy?

The Department of Labor reports that 2.8 million jobs have been lost and the unemployment rate has risen to 10.2% since the stimulus was enacted in February, ... more