Word: stimulus
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...haven't heard about Race to the Top, shame on the Obama Administration. It was one of the most creative pieces of last year's $787 billion stimulus package. It established a $4.35 billion fund that Education Secretary Arne Duncan could distribute to states on the basis of their willingness to reform their schools. Duncan's definition of reform - a common one these days - demanded more school choice and competition as well as an emphasis on teacher evaluation and accountability. "Duncan really nailed this," says New York City Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey. "You can use federal funds to drive...
...India's edge is due to the different stimulus programs adopted by the two countries to support growth during the downturn. China implemented what Walker calls "the biggest stimulus program in global history." On top of government outlays for new infrastructure and tax breaks, Beijing most significantly counted on massive credit growth to spur the economy. The amount of new loans made in 2009 nearly doubled from the year before to $1.4 trillion - representing almost 30% of GDP. The stimulus plan worked wonders, holding up growth even as China's exports dropped...
...growing number of nonperforming loans (NPLs). In a November report, UBS economist Wang Tao calculates that if 20% of all new lending in 2009 and 10% of the amount in 2010 goes bad over the next three to five years, the total amount of NPLs from China's stimulus program would reach $400 billion, or roughly 8% of GDP. Though Wang notes that the total is small compared with the level of NPLs that Chinese banks carried in the past, she still calls the sum "staggering." Policymakers in Beijing are clearly concerned. Since December, they have introduced a series...
...asked versions of the "Now what?" question a dozen times. Bernanke always left wiggle room, but he made it clear that he basically intends to stay the course. After pouring unprecedented money into the financial system to try to revive the economy, he has no plans for additional monetary stimulus because he doubts it would create many jobs. He also made it clear that he's in no hurry to start pulling money out of the economy to try to fight inflation because he doesn't see any signs of inflation on the horizon...
...Bernanke, the benefits of additional monetary stimulus would be modest at best, while the costs could be disastrous. Reasonable economists can and do disagree. The fact that doves think he's obsessed with inflation and unconcerned with jobs while hawks think the opposite is not proof that he has found appropriate middle ground. And he shouldn't be confirmed just because markets are freaking out that he might not be. But Fed chairmen are supposed to be apolitical, analytical and data-driven; Bernanke is all those things, and he did, after all, save the world. If Republicans don't want...