The Washington Monthly

January 30, 2010

MCCAIN ADVISER TOUTS STIMULUS.... It's impossible to characterize economist Mark Zandi as some kind of liberal partisan -- he was an adviser to the McCain/Palin campaign in 2008.

With that in mind, it should carry a little more weight than usual when he credits Democratic recovery efforts with creating strong economic growth. Here was Zandi yesterday:

"I think stimulus was key to the 4th quarter. It was really critical to business fixed investment because there was a tax bonus depreciation in the stimulus that expired in December and juiced up fixed investment. And also, it was very critical to housing and residential investment because of the housing tax credit. And the decline in government spending would have been measurably greater without the money from the stimulus. So the stimulus was very, very important in the 4th quarter." [emphasis added]

This isn't exactly new. Last November, Zandi was saying the same thing, arguing that "the stimulus is doing what it was supposed to do -- it is contributing to ending the recession." He added, "In my view, without the stimulus, G.D.P. would still be negative and unemployment would be firmly over 11 percent."

Maybe someone ought to let Tim Pawlenty know.

—Steve Benen 9:40 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (8)

Comments

To hell with T-Paw. The Dems should immediately incorporate this guy into their talking points.

Posted by: sue on January 30, 2010 at 9:50 AM | PERMALINK

Uh, did you screw up the HTML format somehow, Steve? The whole site is in bold font now...

Posted by: Gray on January 30, 2010 at 9:51 AM | PERMALINK

As every teabagger in Arizona knows John McCain is a liberal RINO. So anything one of his advisors says should be ignored.

Posted by: Ron Byers on January 30, 2010 at 9:54 AM | PERMALINK

I think it is very important to tout agreement from a variety of "sides" and perspectives. Otherwise, it is easier for "them" to complain that we are insular liberals who don't listed to anyone else, etc. They tout too, typically using for sarcastic effect "even Krugman agrees ...." but I suggest a more mature use of outside agreement.

Posted by: neil b on January 30, 2010 at 10:07 AM | PERMALINK

Probably his larger point is that the whole thing is a temporary phenomenon, that it's artificially inflating the growth numbers.

But what will drive a sustainable recovery that isn't based on more bubbles? That's a serious question.

Posted by: Speed on January 30, 2010 at 10:40 AM | PERMALINK

Someone should let the Dems know. Obama and others should be talking this up at every opportunity.

Posted by: Bat of Moon on January 30, 2010 at 1:45 PM | PERMALINK

Zandi. If Trig liked it you'd quote him. Ask all the suckers who bought subsidized housing when the tax break is withdrawn and their equity shrivels away. Then ask all the poor saps who get whipsawed by the inventory adjustment because their hurdle rates were distorted by tax manipulation. What a fucking shill.

Posted by: stimulate this, zzzzip on January 30, 2010 at 6:56 PM | PERMALINK

I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. This kind of clever work and coverage! Keep up the great works guys I've you guys to our blogroll.

Posted by: Unlock any iPhone on April 10, 2011 at 4:07 AM | PERMALINK

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