Key Republican Rips Income Inequality, Calls For New Stimulus [View all]

[ashling]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/22/sheila-bair-stimulus_n_4646625.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037


WASHINGTON -- Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair sharply criticized Congress for failing to approve economic stimulus measures, saying elected lawmakers who haven't repaired the economy "need to be held to account." Bair, an influential Republican, said more infrastructure spending by the federal government would provide a critical boost to the job market, and said Congress should approve additional spending, even if it requires borrowing money.

"Infrastructure spending's number one. I think we've squandered cheap financing rates for five years ... We haven't spent the money," Bair said during an interview on HuffPost Live on Wednesday. "Everybody wakes up in the morning, 'What's the Fed gonna do?' I don't like that. I want the pressure back on the elected leaders. They need to be held to account. They need to get the economy going."

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"Look, on entitlement reform, I think you do need a long-term strategy. I'm not one of those people who say we can ignore that -- we can't. But it can be long-term. And if you get something out of this spending, you get something with long-term benefit -- which you will with infrastructure: You get infrastructure, which we desperately need. We need jobs, better job training ... This is low-hanging fruit."

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"I do think it's made income inequality a lot worse. It's inflated financial assets. I mean, they say that's the purpose, right, to get this wealth effect? But what is it? The top 10 percent of the population owns 80 percent of the stock," Bair said. "We need fiscal policy. And I know the Fed says, 'Well, Congress isn't going to do anything, so we need to do this.' But I think what they're doing at this point just continues to skew wealth towards the very wealthy. We need Congress, we need fiscal leadership."