“Calling all economists . . .”

Supposedly President-elect Obama’s transition team has been calling up economists and asking for their views on a possible $1 trillion stimulus spending plan.  Reportedly they could find only one economist (Harvard’s Greg Mankiw) who was a “skeptic” about such a spending plan.

Now enter House Republican leader John Boehner, who is now looking for other economists who are skeptics about such plans.  Here’s part of the text of Boehner’s posting:

A recent Associated Press article quoted transition officials for President-elect Obama as saying “[o]nly one outside economist” contacted by the President-elect’s advisors had “voiced skepticism” about the President-elect’s emerging plans for an economic “stimulus” spending bill with a price tag as large as $1 trillion, with the vast majority of that number going to new spending on government programs and projects.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is compiling a list of credentialed American economists who would like to add their voices to the list of stimulus spending skeptics. If you are an economist who would like to be added to this list, you can join the list here and provide your comments. Also, please feel free to provide links to any papers or publications that support or extend upon your comments.

Be aware that information submitted through this form can, and most likely will, be shared publicly.