Summers: A Stimulus Must Aim for Long-Term Results

Larry Summers, designated director of Barack Obama's National Economic Council, has published the first inside statement on Obama's fiscal stimulus package. The focus will be on investment:

Investments in an array of areas -- including energy, education, infrastructure and health care -- offer the potential of extraordinarily high social returns while allowing our country to address some long-standing national challenges and put our economy on a solid footing for years to come. more...

The stimulus package is supposed to create 3 million new jobs:

... more than 80 percent of these 3 million jobs will be in the private sector, including emerging sectors such as environmental technology. This is a bold goal. But economists across the political spectrum recognize that it is far less risky to stand firmly against the forces propelling our economy downward than to be timid in the face of a mounting crisis. more...

For a skeptical view of the proposed stimulus package, see this entry in Greg Mankiw's blog with further links.