The other day, while hanging out at the Christian Science reading room on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, I picked up a copy of their religion-themed publication called the “Christian Science Sentinel.” Their daily publication, the “Christian Science Monitor,” despite its name, is not of religious bent, and although they share the belief in the primacy of God over healing, Christian Science and Scientology, though they sound similar – much like debt and deficit – they are not the same things.
The particular issue that caught my eye was from winter of 2008 – just as the world was tipping into the great recession – entitled, “Prayer: Facing Down the Threat of Recession.” The articles shared the common theme that with prayer and faith in God, the “all-governing Mind,” the “divine Mind [that] maintains the well-being of us, both individually and collectively” we will come out of this economic crisis stronger than ever.
Apparently President Obama and his administration did not take the advice of the Church of Christ Scientists because besides the myriad efforts, there seems to be no foundation to the rumor that there was a plan in place to purchase soda and beer cans from the homeless. It has been a year since the administration’s $787 billion fiscal stimulus, the ambitiously titled American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was enacted. Has the stimulus been effective? If you ask a Democratic politician they will say, yes, just look at the growth in real GDP over the last two quarters and the studies that show it has created as many as 2 million jobs. Republicans will almost universally declare it a failure, because, notwithstanding the (dubious) jobs number, the unemployment rate is still just under 10 percent and bedsides, it was a Democratic plan.
Economists are also split. You have those with faith in the free-market system tantamount to the Christian Scientists’ faith in God, that believe that the future benefits outweigh the current detriment. Other economists who believe the stimulus was essential in pulling the economy from the brink, and the economy can be dealt with when it derails.
Perhaps such scrutiny is a bit premature. Of the original stimulus only one third has been spent, and with an economy this large, no matter the amount spent, its full impact likely has not yet been felt. At this point my main concern is that the Obama administration is starting to get a bit “deficit-averse.” Yes, budget deficits are monstrous and must eventually be confronted, and belief in God and the efficacy of the free-market system is all well and good, Though, we are in the midst of a recovery, the economy remains on (partial) governmental life-support and as for pulling the plug now, well, you might want to get down on your knees and start praying.
