Krugman & Galbraith: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. - The Plank: "On Saturday morning, the Obama transition team released a memo outlining its calculations about the economic recovery package. The memo's authors are Christina Romer, who will chair the new president's council of economic advisers, and Jared Bernstein, who will be chief economic advisor to Vice President Biden.
The report suggests the package President-elect Obama has sketched out would create three to four million new jobs by the end of 2010. It reaffirms the belief that, dollar for dollar, public investment generates more jobs than either tax cuts or direct assistance to the states; but it also states that, in effect, the team ran out of good, shovel-ready projects to fund. In the absence of such alterantives, the report says, it makes sense to pour money into tax cuts and state fiscal relief, as well.
And, in a direct rebuff to conservatives complaining that the package would fatten the rolls of government employees, the report suggests that nine out of every ten new jobs will be in the private sector. "
(Via The Plank.)
