Bang for the Buck

What a dollar of stimulus puts back into the economy when spent on:

(doubleclick on the picture to see the whole thing)


This is surprising to me (found it at Mother Jones). Those items that are the most "bleeding heart liberal", like food stamps and unemployment benefits, are actually the smartest investments that government can make. Meanwhile those items that are the dreams of the conservative business lobby like corporate tax cuts and capital gains taxes don't do squat for the economy. Now, this doesn't mean that taxes should never be cut. There are times when job creation can be stimulated that way. But when you are talking about a deflationary spiral, two words that should strike fear into the hearts of all Americans, corporate tax cuts are irrelevant. We have to find efficient ways to pump immediate money into the economy, into the lives of everyday working people, or previously working people.

I think this is what Obama means when he talks about building the economy from the bottom up.