COMMENT
Breadcrumb trail navigation:
By John Podesta and Michael Ettlinger
Published: January 4 2010 20:34 | Last updated: January 4 2010 20:34
The most gripping rescue story of 2009 was the tale of how Captain Chesley Sullenberger glided his Airbus A320 safely into the freezing waters of New York's Hudson river. His calmness, which probably saved the 155 people on board, more than justified the appreciative call from Barack Obama the following evening. Yet the US president-elect himself was about to play a leading role in what has turned out to be another historic rescue story from 2009: the saving of an economy on the brink of a second Great Depression.
In the face of a nose-diving stock market, frozen credit flows, rising unemployment and rapidly contracting growth in gross domestic product, Mr Obama and progressives in Congress passed the most aggressive stimulus package in history "“ the $787bn American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "“ after only a few weeks in office. It is no coincidence that, 10 months on, political debate centres around ways to hasten a recovery already under way rather than measures to contend with an economic collapse all too plausible a short time ago. GDP growth has risen from -6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 to 2.2 per cent in the third quarter. Job losses, which peaked at 700,000 in January 2009, slowed to just 11,000 in November.
You have viewed your allowance of free articles. If you wish to view more, click the button below.
Read Full Article »
