Stimulus created fewer jobs in Vermont than first thought

Tamarac wrote:

Come on now, let us be honest here. No one thought that the stimulus money would actually create any long term employment or wealth. We all knew from the get go that it was a redistrabution of wealth program.

New Clear Waste wrote:

<quoted text>
Wrong, of course. There were public sector investments that were overdue and needed to be made, i.e. for infrastructure (BRIDGES in the news), R&D in the energy sector, education, etc. The stimulus plan was a good excuse to do it now. Corrrect, those are not permanent jobs, but the infrastructure that only the Government can create and maintain (because it's a public good) is necessary for any future economic activity that does lead to a sustained recovery.
Skimp on these vital public expenditures, as we've been doing, and we'll eventually go down he economic sewer - as we've been doing.
It's not an accident that the WPA in the 1930s & 1940s, the GI Bill of the 1940s & 1950s, and Eisenhower's interstate highways preceded or coincided with our massive economic expansion post-WWII. It's too bad we've been letting those investments slide since the 1960s. The tax crybabies are penny-wise and pound-foolish.

New Clear Waste wrote:

<quoted text>
Wrong, of course. There were public sector investments that were overdue and needed to be made, i.e. for infrastructure (BRIDGES in the news), R&D in the energy sector, education, etc. The stimulus plan was a good excuse to do it now. Corrrect, those are not permanent jobs, but the infrastructure that only the Government can create and maintain (because it's a public good) is necessary for any future economic activity that does lead to a sustained recovery.
Skimp on these vital public expenditures, as we've been doing, and we'll eventually go down he economic sewer - as we've been doing.
It's not an accident that the WPA in the 1930s & 1940s, the GI Bill of the 1940s & 1950s, and Eisenhower's interstate highways preceded or coincided with our massive economic expansion post-WWII. It's too bad we've been letting those investments slide since the 1960s. The tax crybabies are penny-wise and pound-foolish.