The U.S. economy will improve slowly and another round of fiscal stimulus likely wouldn’t be effective, former Treasury secretaries Paul O’Neill and Robert Rubin said.
Rubin, who served under Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the U.S. is “going to have slow and bumpy growth,” in a taped interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” scheduled to air today. A “major second stimulus” might create uncertainty and undermine confidence, he said.
Can someone get me some of the Very Serious Person crack rock so I can understand the very sophisticated economic model such that all that matters is "confidence" and that confidence could be undermined by fiscal stimulus?
Businesses don't need customers, just a pep talk. Or, wait, naybe they do need customers?
Companies are concerned about demand and won’t expand facilities and hire new employees until sales have improved, said O’Neill, who was Treasury secretary under Republican President George W. Bush.
Oh, wait, demand is a problem. So the solution is to...do nothing to help demand.
Got it.