Pelosi: Unemployment Benefits Biggest Stimulus for Economy

James Falkner / July 07, 2010

Last week in a legislative briefing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) stoked the unemployment insurance (UI) debate by stating that unemployment checks are the fastest way to create jobs.

Let me say that unemployment insurance… is one of the biggest stimuluses (sic) to our economy. Economists will tell you, this money is spent quickly. It injects demand into the economy, and it’s job creating. It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name.

Given that a similar debate over extending federal unemployment benefits may also be brewing in the U.S. Senate, the negative effects of such legislation can’t be ignored. As noted by William Beach, Director of the Center of Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, extending benefits over the 26 week mark: (more…)