This Week in CQ Researcher

Public-Works Projects by Marcia Clemmitt, February 20, 2009


Do they stimulate the economy more than tax cuts?


To battle the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt put millions of unemployed Americans to work on New Deal projects such as repairing roads and building cabins in national parks. To stimulate today’s ailing economy, Congress has enacted a $787 billion package that includes tax cuts and spending on infrastructure, including expanding highway and rail systems and weatherizing buildings. But many conservatives argue that government spending does not create jobs and merely diverts money from the private sector, which they call the only true engine of job creation.

• Will federal spending on public works create jobs?
  
• Does infrastructure construction strengthen the economy?
  
• Is the Democratic public-works spending plan too big?

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