The failed stimulus package

The Simple Math of a Failed Stimulus

A new report, released yesterday, says that real growth in gross domestic product (GDP) -- otherwise known as "the economy" -- was 1.9% during the second quarter. Trouble is, this data comes with two giant caveats:

1. Growth was lower than the 2.3% economists had expected.
2. Gross domestic purchases -- a measure of demand -- fell for the second time in the last three quarters.

Translated, this means that the much-ballyhooed stimulus package likely had some effect, but not as much as the experts thought it might. Me? I'm not surprised at all.

I'm not a number-cruncher or a brilliant prognosticator. I just know what I read in my credit card and home equity statements, and in my paycheck. I'm making less, I'm paying interest on borrowings, and my savings options aren't thrilling. The average five-year CD from credit-crunched financiers such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and Wachovia (NYSE: WB) is just 4.13%, Bankrate reports.