Thomas Jefferson, no fan of deficit spending, has a clearer view of the US fiscal stimulus than any living politician. From his memorial by the Tidal Basin in Washington he can watch a $12.4m stimulus project to fix a seawall and stop him sinking into the water.
The site is cluttered with machinery and rolls of steel mesh. It employs about 20 workers. That makes it hard to deny that the stimulus is doing something – but Republican critics point to a 9.5 per cent unemployment rate to argue that it has failed. Democratic prospects in elections this autumn and any push for more spending rest on proving otherwise.
