The Distributional Effects of the Stimulus

Abstract

I will provide an assessment of the employment and distributional outcomes of the Obama stimulus package. In a nutshell, my argument is that the package is seriously deficient in terms of meeting the challenges of the grave and enduring employment crisis that this country is in, and in addressing the gross maldistribution of income, of which evidence was presented by Ed Wolff. This naturally raises the question what, if anything, can be done to turn things around. I believe that changes can be effected, but economic policy makers need to think big, and they need to think different.