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> How "hands on" was the government in kicking the economy back into gear? Did we do much beyond lowering interest rates? If by "we" you mean the U.S. governme
by forapurpose 9y ago
> How "hands on" was the government in kicking the economy back into gear? Did we do much beyond lowering interest rates?
If by "we" you mean the U.S. government, it spent about $700 billion to stimulate economic activity and employment.
- jdavis703 9y agoThe government would have spent more, but at the time the pro-austerity crowd was trying to reduce government spending. This left the federal reserve (and internationally other central banks) as the primary economic stimulator, which has it's own set of poor effects (a stimulus package can function as a jobs program, whereas low interest rates serve to increase the capital that the wealthy already own).