Bien lo dijo Reagan, el gobierno es solo un estorbo.
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Los economistas estan mas pesimistas acerca de la fortaleza de la recuperacion, pero ellos no piensan que el gobierno debe intervenir, esos fueron los resultados de un sondeo de opinion realizado por el WSJ.
Los economistas al gobierno: "a emprender la retirada"
53 economistas fueron entrevistados, el promedio piensa que el desempleo no bajara de 9% por lo menos hasta Junio del 2011, ellos esperan que la economia agregara solo 136,000 trabajos al mes durante los proximos 12 anios, por debajo de los 157,0000 estimados en Julio, a ese ritmo la economia simplemente absorvera a los nuevos trabajadores que ingresan a la fuerza laboral.
"La economia necesita que el gobierno se salga del medio" dijo Pierpont Securities.
30 de los 48 economistas que contestaron la pregunta dijeron que la economia no necesitaba mas estimulos.
La gran mayoria de los economistas dijo que los recortes de impuestos de Bush deberian extenderse hasta que la economia se recupere.
Economists Want Policy Makers to Back Off
By PHIL IZZO
Economists are getting more pessimistic about the strength of the recovery, but they don't think policy makers should do anything more to support it, according to the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.
The 53 surveyed economists, not all of whom answer every question, offered a bleak picture of tepid growth and high unemployment. On average, they still don't see the unemployment rate dropping below 9% through at least June 2011. They expect the economy to add just 136,000 jobs a month over the next 12 months, down from a forecast of 157,000 in the July survey. At that rate, job creation will barely keep up with new entrants to the labor force.
Another increase in initial claims for unemployment benefits reported Thursday by the Labor Department underlined the troubles facing the labor market. Initial jobless claims climbed by 2,000 to 484,000 for the week ended Aug. 7, the highest level since February. The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out weekly volatility, increased 14,250 to 473,500.
The claims data come on the heels of a disappointing July employment report that showed just a small increase in jobs excluding the effect of layoffs related to the decennial census.
"If claims remain at their current level, then even the modest recent gains in private payrolls will not be sustained," said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.
About the Survey
The Wall Street Journal surveys a group of 57 economists throughout the year. Broad surveys on more than 10 major economic indicators are conducted every month. Once a year, economists are ranked on how well their forecasts have fared. For prior installments of the surveys, see: WSJ.com/Economist.
.When asked about the biggest risk facing the economy, "too few jobs, too little wage income and too little consumer spending" was the most popular choice. Issues such as inflation, deflation, state and local government cutbacks and another downturn in housing garnered just a handful of responses each.
Meanwhile, they forecast annualized, inflation-adjusted growth of 2.5% for the third quarter and 2.9% for 2011, down from 3.1% for both periods only three months ago.
Despite the continued challenging conditions, 30 out of 48 economists who answered the question said the economy doesn't need any more fiscal or monetary stimulus. Six economists said more fiscal stimulus is necessary, while five want more monetary stimulus from the Fed and seven said the economy could use both.
The survey was conducted prior to the central bank's announcement Tuesday that it would reinvest proceeds from its mortgage-backed securities and agency debt portfolio into Treasurys, essentially boosting monetary stimulus.
"The economy needs government to get out of the way," said Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities.
The economists, though, generally didn't support the idea of ending Bush-era tax cuts, which will expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts. Just three respondents said that the tax cuts on individual income should be allowed to expire for everyone. Thirty-two economists said they should all be extended, while 11 said they should be extended for people making less than $250,000 a year—the policy option backed by the Obama administration.
Many of the economists said that any extension should be temporary while the recovery still is struggling to gain traction. But amid concerns about the deficit, 23 respondents said that the extension should be offset with spending cuts or other taxes.
"It is irresponsible nonsense to claim that tax cuts 'pay for themselves,' " said Nicholas Perna of Perna Associates.
Though concerns about the deficit persist, more than half of the respondents—28 economists—don't think the U.S. will adopt a value-added, or consumption, tax over the next decade. "Political pressure against is too strong," said David Wyss of Standard & Poor's Corp.
But some economists see a VAT as one of the few ways to bring down long-term deficits. "It is not politically feasible to slow federal spending growth enough to bring the debt accumulation to a sustainable pace. A VAT is a clever way to increase tax revenues paid by middle- and lower-income households without increasing their marginal income tax rates," said Paul Kasriel of Northern Trust.