I'm not trying to lure
the reader into a relativistic tailspin. I'm simply pointing out that when it
comes to the subject of economics, there are many systems and scenarios that
"work". It's just a question of who they work for: whose quality of
life increases or decreases and what is the cost?
Ever since the start of
the Recession a few years back, I think it has become painfully apparent that
total unregulated laissez-faire capitalism is designed to benefit those already
in power and who already have money while the rest of the population gets
gradually poorer and poorer (RCA Ch 3). After all, the time in American History
with the least amount of regulation and government oversight of the economy is
now called The Gilded Age. The Great Depression came on
the heels of a decade dominated by financial recklessness and corporate greed.
One could even argue that Ronald Reagan’s economic policies laid the groundwork
for the current Recession.
Which this leads me back
to the main focus of my project: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(usually shortened to the Recovery Act or the stimulus) and whether it
"worked" or not. Once again, cui bono?
According
to the website dedicated to monitoring the Recovery
Act, it was supposed to do three things:
- Create
new jobs and save existing ones
- Spur
economic activity and invest in long-term growth
- Foster
unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government
spending
The stimulus provided
$787 billion (later increased to $840 billion) in three main forms:
- Tax
cuts and benefits for millions of working families and businesses
- Funding
for entitlement programs, such as unemployment benefits
- Funding
for federal contracts, grants and loans
Punching
in Arcata's zip code into the search bar, I found that $14,652,594 (!) was spent in this area,
$1,631,112 on HSU alone! It's trickier to find out precisely
what this money was actually "for" so I'm going to have to call
around and (hopefully) find someone who actually knows what this money funded
and whether or not it was effective. This means calling community health
centers, elementary schools, Greyhound (no seriously Greyhound (in this area)
got over a million.) and many of the other recipients of the stimulus money.
Looking forward to it!
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