Brookings Institute: Vice President, Economic Studies William Gale about the Stimulus Package

Brookings Institute: Vice President, Economic Studies William Gale
Gale says that the stimulus package should give the economy the jolt that it needs but adds that it generates a few far reaching concerns.
As President Obama signs the much anticipated stimulus package into law, William Gale, vice president and director of Economic Studies at Brookings, says the economy will likely respond as anticipated. But, Gale says, one of the critical elements for the nation’s economic solvency is to ensure that there’s an end in sight for this unprecedented spending bill.


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"The stimulus package is really only the first component of an overall recovery package. I see four components overall. The stimulus package, housing fix, a finance fix, and some sort of global coordination with other countries. I think the administration, now that it has passed the first of those it’s focused on the second and third, but we cannot forget that we are part of the global economy. If the global economy doesn’t recover that will not be good news for us, so we need to work with other countries on some sort of integrated package."

"...One of the issues that is always a topic of conversation in Washington is who gains and who loses? The stimulus package has a huge number of provisions that effect particular groups, but I think this is a case where the overall impact is gonna dominate any specific group impact. If the fiscal package, the stimulus, can turn the economy around, get people back to work, get businesses hiring again, consumers spending that is going to have a much larger impact on families than any particular $400 tax cut."