The 2009 economic stimulus package has not been proven to have
created a whole lot of technology jobs, but that is not stopping President Obama
from talking up its importance to the economy of the future. By and large,
stimulus funds have been shown to have helped out beleaguered state and local
governments, saving the jobs of teachers, local officials, fire and police
squads, military personnel, and local health care workers.
On Feb. 17, President Obama once again emphasized the necessity of stimulus funds
as an emergency measure to keep the economy afloat on the recessionary tides.
He also talked about keeping well-paid technology jobs in the United
States and the importance of investing in
the future technology workers of the country.
Department of Labor research from January showed a gain of 12,000 technology
jobs, but it hardly makes up for the 200,000 technology jobs lost in 2009.
Where are the tech jobs going to come from?
"The jobs of the 21st century are in areas like clean energy and technology,
advanced manufacturing, [and] new infrastructure," Obama said. "That kind of economy
requires us to consume less and produce more; to import less and export more."
He did not hold back on the topic of technology jobs moving
offshore:
"Instead of sending jobs overseas,
we need to send more products overseas that are made by American workers and
American business. And we need to train our workers for those jobs with new
skills and a world-class education. Other countries already realize this. They're
putting more emphasis on math and science. They're building high-speed
railroads and expanding broadband. They're making serious investments in clean
energy because they want those jobs."
Economists at Macroeconomic Advisers said they believe the Recovery Act funds have
saved between 1.6 and 1.8 million jobs and are set to create 2.5 million jobs
when all the funds have been allocated. The question many in the country have,
however, is whether the country would be in the same situation if it did not
allocate $787 billion in funds. Columnist David Leonhard of The New York Times puts
it in some context:
"[T]he stimulus package, flaws and
all, deserves a big heaping of credit. "It prevented things from getting
much worse than they otherwise would have been," Nariman Behravesh, Global Insight's chief
economist, says. "I think everyone would have to acknowledge that's a good
thing."
So what now?
The last year has
shown—just as economists have long said—that aid to states and cities may be
the single most effective form of stimulus. Unlike road- or bridge-building, it
can happen in a matter of weeks. And unlike tax cuts, state and local aid never
languishes in a household's savings account."
More job creation in the private sector where the bulk of technology jobs
reside is the president's stated goal for 2010:
"You can argue, rightly, that we
haven't made as much progress as we need to make when it comes to spurring job
creation. That's part of the reason why the Recovery Act is on track to save or
create another 1.5 million jobs in 2010. That's part of the reason why I expect
Congress to pass additional measures as quickly as possible that will help our
small business owners create new jobs; give them more of an incentive to hire."
The problem is that many people think the stimulus was essentially a waste of
money. From CNN:
"Twenty-one
percent of people questioned in the poll say nearly all the money in the
stimulus has been wasted, with 24 percent feeling that most money has been
wasted and an additional 29 percent saying that about half has been wasted.
Twenty-one percent say only a little has been wasted and 4 percent think that
no stimulus dollars have been wasted.
"One reason why
the economic stimulus bill is no longer popular with the American public is the
perception that a lot of the money has been wasted. Six in 10 believe that the
projects in the stimulus bill were included for purely political reasons,"
said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland."
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