You can blow up the actual copy by clicking on it and then "control +" until it is as big as you like. (Before I realized you could do this I "Nuanced" the article by reading it into Nuance. That result is below, with my bolding.)
The New Yorker, September 20, 2010, at 52:
When Pres. Obama unveiled an array of new tax cuts and spending proposals last week, one word was noticeably missing from his speeches: "stimulus." Republicans, meanwhile, energetically set about decrying the plan as "more of the same failed stimulus" and as simply a "second stimulus" -- as if the word itself were a damning indictment....
By any reasonable measure, the $800 million stimulus package that Congress passed in the winter of 2009 was a clear, if limited, success. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it reduced unemployment by somewhere between 0.8 and 1.7% in recent months. Economists at various Wall Street houses suggest that it boosted GDP by more than 2%. A recent study by Mark Zandi and Alan Blinder, economists from respectively, Moody's and Princeton, argues that, in the absence of the stimulus, unemployment would have risen above 11% and that GDP would've been almost half $1 trillion lower. The weight of the evidence suggests that fiscal policies softened the impact of the recession, boosting demand, creating jobs, and helping the economy start growing again. It did so without any of the negative effects that deficit spending can entail: interest rates remained at remarkably low levels, and government borrowing didn't crowd out private investment.
Lately, however, none of this has made any difference. Polls show that a sizable majority of voters think that the stimulus either did nothing to help or actively hurt the economy, and most people say that they are opposed to the new stimulus plan. The hostility has numerous sources. Many voters conflate the stimulus bill with the highly unpopular bailouts of the banking sector and the auto industry; Republicans have done a good job of encouraging such misconception, as when Rep. Mike Pence, of Indiana, referred to the "bailout stimulus." Also, the stimulus -- which, to begin with, was too small to completely offset the economy's precipitous drop in demand -- was oversold. The Administration's forecast about the recession "particularly regarding job losses" were too optimistic, and so its promises about what the stimulus would accomplish set the public up for disappointment.
But the most interesting aspect of the stimulus’s image problems concern its design and implementation. Paradoxically, the very things that made the stimulus more effective economically may have made it less popular politically. For instance, because research has shown that lump-sum tax refunds get hoarded rather than spent, the government decided not to give individuals their tax cuts all at once, instead refunding a little on each paycheck. That tactic was successful at increasing consumer demand, but it had a big political cost: many voters never noticed that they were getting a tax cut. Similarly, a key part of the stimulus was the billions of dollars that went to state governments. This was crucial in helping states avoid layoffs and spending cuts, but politically it didn't get much notice, because it was the dog that didn't bark -- saving jobs just isn't as conspicuous as creating them. Extending unemploy-ment benefits was also an excellent use of stimulus funds, since that money tends to get spent immediately. Unless you are unemployed this wasn't something you’d pay attention to.
The stimulus was also back-loaded, so that only a third was spent in the first year. This reduced waste, since there was more time to vet projects, and ensure that money would be kept flowing into 2010, lessening the risk of a double-dip recession. It also made the stimulus less potent in 2009 when the economy was in dire straits, leaving voters with the impression that the plan wasn't working. Or subtly, while the plan may end up having a transformative impact on things like the clean energy industry, broadband access and the national power grid, it's hard for voters to find concrete visual evidence of what the stimulus has done (as occasional road signs telling us our tax dollars are at work notwithstanding). That's a sharp contrast with the new deal legacy of new highways, massive dams, and rural electrification. Dramatic, high profile deeds have a profound effect on people's opinions, so, in the absence of another Hoover Dam or Golden Gate Bridge, it's not surprising that the voters view is: "we spent $800 billion and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
Bizarre as it may seem, a less well-designed stimulus might have been more popular, and that would've made it easier for Obama to sell the electorate on his new stimulus proposals. But, given the scope and depth of the recession, it's also likely that any stimulus would become a political albatross. As Jonathan Baron -- a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies the role of psychology and public policy -- has discussed, if you take action and things go wrong, you're often held more responsible than if you do nothing, even when the failure to act would lead to a disastrous outcome. Of course, presidents are always blamed or rewarded for the state of the economy. That, in pushing through the stimulus plan, the Administration tied itself to the fate of the economy more tightly than if it had done nothing. It's a harsh lesson: when Rome is burning, trying to put out the fire may cost you more than just sitting by and fiddling.
-- James Surowiecki
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