Saving social security

Here's a cheap and effective form of economic stimulus – tell America's baby boomers that their welfare benefits are safe

Dean Baker
guardian.co.uk, Monday 16 February 2009 18.30 GMT

The stimulus bill approved by Congress last week - and due to be signed into law by President Obama tomorrow - is a very good first step toward slowing the economy's decline, but it clearly is not large enough to accomplish the job. The US economy will be seeing a loss of close to $2.6 trillion in demand over this year and next due to the collapse of housing and commercial property bubbles.

To counteract this collapse, Congress gave President Obama just over $700bn in real stimulus. President Obama will have to make further requests from Congress to close the gap between what the economy needs and the stimulus package approved last week.