Statistics, figures, graphs, plans and predictions; this is what the Obama Administration is distributing on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Better known as the Federal Stimulus Project, these stimulus dollars are now going out fast and furious to communities everywhere, and officials are ready to document the success this deficit increasing project has achieved. I, however, am just a little more skeptical.

Recently, I shared my thoughts on the stimulus project at a business forum at Babson College:

…Jumping right in, I’d like to talk about the rising unemployment rate in Massachusetts. There is a great concern out there because as this bill was first touted back in February, we were told the unemployment rate would not go over 8%... But today, it is in fact over 9%, at 9.3%, with the Federal rate at 10.2% and continuing to rise. After attending numerous hearings of the Federal Stimulus Oversight Committee, it seems that Massachusetts has indeed saved jobs in the public sector, i.e. education, human services, police and fire. However, it has not necessarily created jobs, especially within the private sector.

There have really been no visible signs of job creation in the private sector, and according to Moody’s.com, we will continue to see unemployment rise till mid-2010 with a prediction of 37,000 additional jobs lost. If you couple the loss of jobs and lack of job creation with the devaluation of the U.S. dollar, the increased price of gold to $1,100 an ounce, and today’s deficit at $1.4 trillion, it all combines to make investors around the world very concerned with the U.S. economy…That being said, on a local level, Massachusetts has also used its 2011 stimulus money for education in 2009 to avoid making further major cuts. This means as we grapple with the fiscal year 2011 budget this April, we will have a half a billion dollars less than anticipated. My main concern comes down to the fear that the borrowed money in the stimulus bill will not have the needed benefit to outweigh the cost of borrowing that money over the next 20 years. The Federal deficit is $1.4 trillion in 2009, three times greater than it was in 2008.

We simply cannot continue this type of spending without real implications on the American economy in the long-term.

For further information, please read the two below articles:
www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/10/26/mass_facing_a_jobless_recovery_even_as_key_industries_begin_to_rebound www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMNoef6xDenBbHWO0Im6rIjDmAgAD9BOJH300