Posted by
Mike Bates on Monday, January 25, 2010 4:13:01 PM
On his segment of CNN Newroom today, anchor Ali Velshi cited a
CNNN/Opinion Research poll showing that only a quarter of Americans
believe Obama's stimulus program has wasted little or no money. He then
set up an interview with a pro-stimulus academic:
Let's talk about this with Kenneth Rogoff, professor of
public policy and economics at Harvard University. Ken, you have looked
at this very, very carefully. I have to say, back when the stimulus
bill was being discussed, most economists fell into the camp of timing
and how much to spend. Very few said there is no need for an economic
stimulus bill at all. Do you think this was a necessary thing to do a
year ago?
Velshi's claim that few economists opposed government spending to
stimulate the economy is false. Last January, Frank Ahrens, the
Washington Post's business reporter, wrote "Cato Lines Up 200 Economists Against Obama's Stimulus." It began:
The conservative Cato Institute plans to buy full-page
ads in The Washington Post and New York Times over the next several
days urging President Obama to avoid what it considers excessive
government spending as a way to get the U.S. out of recession.
In the form of a letter to Obama, the ad is signed by some 200
economists, including three Nobel laureates -- Edward Prescott and
George Mason's Vernon Smith and James Buchanan -- listed prominently at
the top.
Its point: Not everyone agrees that massive government spending --
say, Obama's $825 billion stimulus plan -- is the right way out of
recession.
A group of 200 economists,
including three Nobel laureates, doesn't qualify as "very few." Many
in the mainstream media are eager to protect and defend the man they
helped put in the White House. We can expect more rewriting of recent
history as that crusade continues.