Dobbs Claims “Every Major Economist” Considers Jobs Act A “Continuation Of” Obama's “Nonsense”

Dobbs: “Every Major Economist Points Out That The Jobs Act Is Just A Continuation Of This Nonsense.” On Fox News' America Live, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs claimed Obama is trying to “compound” his “excess confidence in government power to do something” on the economy with the American Jobs Act. Dobbs further claimed “every economist, every major economist, points out that the Jobs Act is a continuation of this nonsense.” From America Live:

DOBBS: This chart points out a number of things. One is the underestimation of the depth of the crisis that we faced going into 2009. It also is a tribute to a monumental excess confidence in government power to do something over the economy. This is an absurdity that is trying, that this administration is trying to compound now with the jobs act. Every economist points out, every major economist points out that the jobs act is just a continuation of this nonsense. And it's really, it is really just amazing, it's mind-numbing to think that this president continues to perpetuate the idea that government has some sort of magic power over the direction of the economy. [Fox News, America Live, 10/10/11]

But Economists Point Out American Jobs Act Would Create Jobs, Prevent Economic Contraction

Bloomberg: Economists Conclude Jobs Act Would “Help Avoid A Return To Recession.” Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News concluded that the jobs plan “would help avoid a return to recession by maintaining growth and pushing down the unemployment rate next year.” From Bloomberg:

President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan would help avoid a return to recession by maintaining growth and pushing down the unemployment rate next year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The legislation, submitted to Congress this month, would increase gross domestic product by 0.6 percent next year and add or keep 275,000 workers on payrolls, the median estimates in the survey of 34 economists showed. The program would also lower the jobless rate by 0.2 percentage point in 2012, economists said. [Bloomberg, 9/28/10]

Zandi: American Jobs Act Would Add Nearly 2 Million Jobs. UPI reported:

President Barack Obama's $447 billion job-creation plan would likely add 1.9 million payroll jobs and grow the U.S. economy 2 percent, a leading economist said.

The plan, which Obama outlined before a joint session of Congress Thursday, would likely cut the unemployment rate by a percentage point, Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi said as Obama prepared to tout the plan at Virginia's University of Richmond. [United Press International, 9/9/11]

Macroeconomic Advisers: American Jobs Act Would Be “A Significant Boost To GDP And Employment.” From the blog of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC:

We estimate that the American Jobs Act (AJA), if enacted, would give a significant boost to GDP and employment over the near-term.

· The various tax cuts aimed at raising workers' after-tax income and encouraging hiring and investing, combined with the spending increases aimed at maintaining state & local employment and funding infrastructure modernization, would:

· Boost the level of GDP by 1.3% by the end of 2012, and by 0.2% by the end of 2013.

· Raise nonfarm establishment employment by 1.3 million by the end of 2012 and 0.8 million by the end of 2013, relative to the baseline.

· The program works directly to raise employment through tax incentives and support to state & local governments for increasing hiring; it works indirectly through the positive boost to aggregate demand (and hence hiring) stimulated by the direct spending and the increase in household income resulting from lower employee payroll taxes and increased employment. [Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, 9/8/11]

EPI: American Jobs Act Would “Increase Employment By About 4.3 Million Jobs.” On the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) blog, EPI research and policy director John Irons provided a “preliminary breakdown of the package and a first pass look at the job impact” of Obama's jobs plan:

Overall the package would increase employment by about 4.3 million jobs over the next couple of years. The new initiatives would boost employment by about 2.6 million jobs, while the continuation of the two temporary provisions (EUI and the payroll tax holiday) would prevent a backslide of over 1.6 million jobs.

There's still a big hole left to fill, but every step matters.

Irons included the following graphic in his post:

[Economic Policy Institute, 9/8/11]