Several Executives Predict Third Stimulus

Several executives from General Electric and Bank of America Merrill Lynch said early this week in a BofA Merrill Lynch webcast that they see Congress approving another stimulus bill sometime next year. They argued that governments and emerging markets will lead a global economic recovery. Another round of stimulus would be the third, following the $114 billion stimulus in February of 2008 and the $787 billion stimulus act of Febraury 2009.

One BofA Merrill Lynch executive predicted a third stimulus based on the need of both political parties to show some improvements in employment when heading into the 2010 midterm elections. GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt said that a second stimulus should address U.S. excess industrial capacity and job loss.

Because of our country's already large and growing debt, CRFB urges that any consideration of a second stimulus should rely solely on careful economic analysis and not on political considerations.