Conservative economist and deficit hawk Martin Feldstein is arguing that we need an economic stimulus package now (immediately after the election) that is big ($100 billion won’t cut it) and long. OK, he didn’t explicitly say it should be long, but he did say this:
Previous attempts to use government spending to stimulate an economic recovery, particularly spending on infrastructure, have not been successful because of long legislative lags that delayed the spending until a recovery was well underway. But while past recessions lasted an average of only about 12 months, this downturn is likely to last much longer, providing the scope for successful countercyclical spending.
This is basically what we said in the National Journal and what Simon said in this morning’s testimony. I’m not claiming that Feldstein listens to what we say (I strongly doubt it). But his op-ed emphasizes the fact that most economists from across the political spectrum are on the same page on this issue.
Update: “Business executives and Republicans” are on board, too.
The Baseline Scenario 