| | Major export countries saw their markets shrink. Exports from Japan were down 41% (quarter one 2009 versus 2008), Germany 32%, China 20% and U.S. 22%. | | Major export countries saw their markets shrink. Exports from Japan were down 41% (quarter one 2009 versus 2008), Germany 32%, China 20% and U.S. 22%. |
| − | Major countries began experimenting again with Keynesian stimulus packages,<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576544500632493510.html Why the Stimulus Failed, ''Wall Street Journal'', September 8, 2011. </ref> including the US ($787 billion), Europe (EU, $634 billion), China ($586 billion), and Japan ($486 billion), but no positive results were reported<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439172480870774.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</ref><ref>[http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LNS11300000&years_option=specific_years&include_graphs=true&to_month=1&from_month=2 United States Department of Labor], Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data extracted on: July 19, 2010 (4:31:11 PM).</ref> Central banks (such as the Federal Reserve in the U.S.) cut interest rates to nearly zero for half a decade, but few businesses borrowed money to expand employment or meet current operating expenses. | + | Major countries began experimenting again with Keynesian stimulus packages, including the US ($787 billion), Europe (EU, $634 billion), China ($586 billion), and Japan ($486 billion), but no positive results were reported<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439172480870774.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</ref><ref>[http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LNS11300000&years_option=specific_years&include_graphs=true&to_month=1&from_month=2 United States Department of Labor], Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data extracted on: July 19, 2010 (4:31:11 PM).</ref> Central banks (such as the Federal Reserve in the U.S.) cut interest rates to nearly zero for half a decade, but few businesses borrowed money to expand employment or meet current operating expenses. |
| | + | {{QuoteBox|This suggests just how hard it is for Keynesian job creation to work in a modern, expertise-based economy. The stimulus was implemented at a time when the Keynesian model had every chance of succeeding on its own terms. The high level of unemployment and the rapid deadline for spending created both the supply of workers and the demand for workers. If the job market results are so lackluster in this setting, economists should expect even weaker stimulative results during more modest recessions.}} |
| | + | {{QuoteBox|The lesson of such on-the-ground knowledge is that the stimulus was a lost opportunity. In practice it became a shotgun marriage between an economic theory justified by computer models and 40 years of liberal social priorities (clean energy, Medicaid expansions and the rest). This produced the 9.1% unemployment we now have.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576544500632493510.html Why the Stimulus Failed,] ''Wall Street Journal'', September 8, 2011. </ref> }} |