U.S. News: Mixed Reviews on Effects Of Obama's Jobs Proposal
Economists gave a range of reviews to President Barack Obama's jobs plan, from predictions that it would have no impact on the U.S. economy to estimates that the proposal could add as much as two percentage points to annual growth.</br></br>Mr. Obama's $447 billion proposal, a combination of tax cuts and spending programs worth about 3% of gross domestic product, is intended to spur expansion as the economic recovery is at risk of stalling.</br></br>Many analysts and policy makers, including White House officials, expect Congress to back only parts of the plan, which would diminish the economic benefits.</br></br>On the low end of expectations, Tom Porcelli, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, said he expected the overall plan to have little economic impact, in part because he expects consumers will use some of the tax savings not to shop but to pay down debt.</br></br>Meanwhile, forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers predicted the plan would add 1.3 percentage points to the economy's growth rate by the end of 2012 and another 0.2 of a point in 2013. The proposal would add 1.3 million jobs next year and another 800,000 in 2013, the firm estimated.