United Liberty

President Barack Obama says that economists from the left and the right agree that the “stimulus” bill has saved jobs. Jake Tapper from ABC News isn’t sure about that:

[C]learly other economists are much more skeptical, including Dan Mitchell at the libertarian Cato Institute, and J.D. Foster at The Heritage Foundation.

Some economists say the whole notion of counting “saved or created” jobs is impossible. Harvard University labor economist Lawrence Katz told ProPublica that trying to count how many jobs have been saved or created is “a silly exercise.”

And in fact, in December the Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag issued a directive scrapping the whole “saved or created” construct.

“Instead, recipients will more easily and objectively report on jobs funded with Recovery Act dollars,” Orszag wrote.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t we told that unemployment would not rise above 8% with the stimulus. Two hundred economists warned the president that he was making a mistake with the stimulus bill and that it would not create new jobs, pointing to lessons from the past. Now we’re over 10% unemployment and things don’t seem to be getting any better.