Editorial: Economic Stimulus Too Slow in Coming

The blows that struck the United States in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks triggered a massive response by government, private companies and citizens, affecting most areas of public policy and private lives.

In most areas that needed attention quickly, assistance was there fast.

In the past two months, trucks have kept the nation’s freight moving as the country reassembled its stock markets, launched a war, began to revamp cargo and passenger security measures across all travel modes, and fought a germ warfare threat that disrupted parts of our mail system.

While most people have returned to “normal life,” the economy is now clearly suffering even more than it was for most of the past year, and that is bad news for truck shipments today and for at least the next few months.

However, the need for Congress to pass an economic stimulus package is growing stronger every day.

In recent days, new evidence emerged that the manufacturing recession has deepened again, while the nation’s unemployment rate shot up and consumer confidence weakened.

Factories make up one of trucking’s main customer groups, so their pain spreads fast into this industry. And when consumers have less faith in the economy, they spend less at retailers, another huge trucking customer base.

Every lost day before a stimulus package is passed means it will be that much longer before any new tax rebates or investment credits can kick in and spur new spending by consumers and businesses.

Certainly, policymakers have already acted in some ways. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates within days of the attacks, and again last week. The government bailed out the stricken airlines and set up a massive emergency spending pool for areas hit by the attacks.

Yet that extra spending has not made up for the economic damage done that day and since.

Plunging fuel prices have helped some, leaving more money in the pockets of fuel users and cutting one of the main operating costs for truckers. But the fact remains that fuel prices would not be falling so dramatically without a dramatic slump in worldwide economic activity.

It is too late to avoid a recession in the United States, and perhaps one across the whole world.

But a well-built stimulus package, one with elements that economists generally embrace, could lessen the damage.

This story appeared in the Nov. 12 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.