A weighty group of economists say the U.S. is definitely on the road to recovery, so a second stimulus bill is really not necessary.
In a survey conducted by the National Association for Business Economics, a convincing 76% of the 266 money watchers said the economy is healing. Some also believe the time has come for the White House to move out of recovery mode and begin cutting costs.
The number of economists that believe the nation’s fiscal policy is “about right” elevated to 35%, a substantial increase from 22% in March 2009. However, three-quarters of the audience believe there needs to be fiscal restriction over the next two years, even though 42% said they did not expect that kind of responsibility generating out of Washington.
As for the effects of the stimulus bill, 58% of the respondents said it will add between 0.5 and 1.5 percentage points to the gross domestic product between fourth quarter 2009 and fourth quarter 2010.
The positive news comes despite the highway and bridge industry’s continued struggles. The latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce said that highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $81.5 billion, 0.2% above the revised May estimate of $81.3 billion.
Long-term funding also continues to be in doubt. Congress passed a $7 billion Highway Trust Fund fix before its summer recess, and the Senate appears to be leaning toward supporting the Obama administration’s 18-month funding extension of SAFETEA-LU. The move would mean the highway and bridge sector would be without a long-term bill until the end of 2011, which also is the start of the 2012 presidential campaign.