July 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. should consider drafting a second stimulus package focusing on infrastructure projects because the first plan was âa bit too small,â said Laura Tyson, an adviser to President Barack Obama.
The current plan âwill have a positive effect, but the real economy is a sicker patient,â Tyson, stressing that she was speaking for herself and not the administration, said in a speech in Singapore today. The $787 billion package will have a bigger effect in the third and fourth quarters, she said.
Her comments contrast with remarks made two days ago by Vice President Joe Biden and fellow Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee, who said it was premature to discuss crafting another stimulus because the current measures have yet to fully take effect. The government is facing criticism that the first package was rolled out too slowly and failed to stop unemployment from soaring to the highest in almost 26 years.
Obama said last month that a second package isnât needed yet, though he expects the jobless rate will exceed 10 percent this year. When Obama signed the first stimulus bill in February, his chief economic advisers forecast it would help hold the rate below 8 percent.
Unemployment increased to 9.5 percent in June, the highest since August 1983. The economy has lost about 6.5 million jobs since December 2007.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awY5BBnLm.KE
The current plan âwill have a positive effect, but the real economy is a sicker patient,â Tyson, stressing that she was speaking for herself and not the administration, said in a speech in Singapore today. The $787 billion package will have a bigger effect in the third and fourth quarters, she said.
Her comments contrast with remarks made two days ago by Vice President Joe Biden and fellow Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee, who said it was premature to discuss crafting another stimulus because the current measures have yet to fully take effect. The government is facing criticism that the first package was rolled out too slowly and failed to stop unemployment from soaring to the highest in almost 26 years.
Obama said last month that a second package isnât needed yet, though he expects the jobless rate will exceed 10 percent this year. When Obama signed the first stimulus bill in February, his chief economic advisers forecast it would help hold the rate below 8 percent.
Unemployment increased to 9.5 percent in June, the highest since August 1983. The economy has lost about 6.5 million jobs since December 2007.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awY5BBnLm.KE