Art Laffer on our Stimulus

Laffer was the architect of Regan's economic miracle and is the name behind the Laffer Curve. He comments on the Stimulus in today's Wall Street Journal:

Arthur Laffer: The Real 'Stimulus' Record
Policy makers in Washington and other capitals around the world are debating whether to implement another round of stimulus spending to combat high unemployment and sputtering growth rates. But before they leap, they should take a good hard look at how that worked the first time around.

It worked miserably, as indicated by the table nearby, which shows increases in government spending from 2007 to 2009 and subsequent changes in GDP growth rates. Of the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, those with the largest spending spurts from 2007 to 2009 saw the least growth in GDP rates before and after the stimulus.

The four nations�Estonia, Ireland, the Slovak Republic and Finland�with the biggest stimulus programs had the steepest declines in growth. The United States was no different, with greater spending (up 7.3%) followed by far lower growth rates (down 8.4%).

Much more at the site -- numbers and everything. It just does not work. The comments are fun -- a lot of people simply do not get it and continue on with the 'talking points' and other people take the time to point out their fallacies.