Did the 2009 $787 billion stimulus stop a second Great Depression?
September 11, 2012
A few months after taking office, President Obama signed the $ 787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which gave most Americans a tax cut, sent billions of dollars to the states and invested almost half of the money in a wide variety of projects and programs. The stimulus was derided by the right for being another government boondoggle and by the left for being too tepid. MICHAEL GRUNWALD says that in spite of what the critics say, the stimulus mostly worked and saved the country from a second depression. Grunwald is an award-winning journalist, senior correspondent for TIME Magazine and author of “The New New Deal: the Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Administration.” He joins us on Radio Times to talk about his investigation into this critical period and what the Recovery Act reveals about Mr. Obama and his view of government.
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Photo credit: Simon & Schuster
