Obama’s big bang: Sizing up risk

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Obama’s big bang: Sizing up risk
« Thread Started on Dec 19, 2008, 11:27am »

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Obama’s big bang: Sizing up risk
Posted: 06:35 AM ET
By Jeanne Sahadi
CNNMoney.com senior writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It is widely considered to be a foregone
conclusion. The government will commit a breathtaking amount of money — as
much as $1 trillion may be required, some say — on an economic recovery
package over at least the next two years.

Economists from across the philosophical spectrum have advised
President-elect Obama to act boldly to prosecute a war against the economic and
financial crises, the speed and depth of which have shocked most experts.

Lawmakers and Obama are already starting to publicly discuss the broad
outlines of elements they want in a stimulus package.
But to win a war, it’s a good idea to map out or at least have a sense of
the endgame before deploying the troops. That is, lawmakers must think about
establishing yardsticks, curbs and deadlines for the money.

Otherwise, there’s a risk that the historic recovery package morphs into
a boondoggle that mortgages the nation’s future by adding hundreds of billions
to the deficit while creating a hard-to-tame bureaucracy.