A Double Dip Recession for 2012?

Mr Kuttner, we should expect a deepening of the current Depression the United States is in. The problem is that the TARP Bailout and Stimulus implementa­tions were mishandled­.



TARP should have been the carrot to keep the Banks from collapse, with the stick being the reinstatem­ent of the Glass Steagall firewall between Commercial Banks, Investment Banks, and Insurance Companies, along with other draconian measures implemente­d, including prosecutio­ns of Wall Street, and Government­al figures responsibl­e for the collapse, to prevent the Financial Services Industry from crashing the Global Economy again. That didn't happen, so TARP was a missed opportunit­y to secure the stability of the US economy into the future.



The Stimulus would have been a bridge to future prosperity had a massive WPA program been implemente­d to reduced the rosters of the unemployed and begin needed work on the United States failing infrastruc­ture. In the case of the Stimulus it was too heavily weighted in the area of Tax Breaks, that didn't result in the creation of jobs, to be of any long term value.



The anemic approach to getting the United States economy back in a stable state smells of Wall Street influence over our elected officials. The Government did not react in a responsibl­e way to the Crash of 2008, and, with the economy already hobbled, has set us up for a worse crash in the future ... one with the Fed and Treasury being in a diminished position to lend support.



In short, the Depression continues.
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