Trade-Offs in the stimulus Package is an article authored by Madison Powers, a Congressional Quarterly guest columnist. The Article appears in Congressional Quarterly online news. Powers seeks to frame the debate and purpose of the economic stimulus package around two main factors..
Powers ague's that there are two factors that should be heavily considered in the debate of the economic stimulus and how resources should be appropriated. The first factor being efficiency and equity. The resources used in the stimulus must be targeted to created the most economic growth possible and it must be distributed in programs to the one's need of aid, such programs being Food Stamps and Unemployment Insurance. Putting money or resources in the hands of the one's who most needed it and who will spent it will generate a net gain for the economy.Programs like food stamps and unemployment insurance will generated $1.50 or $1.75 of return for every dollar invested.as opposed to cutting taxes which is estimated to only generate $.30 or $.50 cents for every dollar invested. The Second factor Power's focuses on is that infrastructure spending alone is not the and all and be all to our economic crisis. Powers argues that significant amounts of resources must be used to help states balance their budgets and maintain needed public services such as: law enforcement, education.fire departments etc. Aid to the states along with other government programs can generated the same if not more stimulus to the economy than infrastructure itself. Not addressing the financial crisis of the states will undoubtedly worsen already a weaken economy. Power's concludes that we need to put aside political ideology and rhetoric. Then, come to the consensus that any effective stimulus package must contain these two factors if where are going to stop the downward economic spiral.
