Another email from a reader. This one is instructive because of the micro versus macro aspects.

Remember, it is only individuals that make decisions. If these decisions are not made in a favorable climate, with respect to expectations, incentives, etc., it doesn’t matter what nonsensical monies are wasted in stimulus. Just another example of how macroeconomics misses all the critical details that make economies thrive.

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NII COMMENT: Long term commitments like having a child (100 year low), buying a house (47 year low) or car (27 year low) are influenced by the “recovery” not recovering after 3 years. The below is just another example of the concern for the long term.
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  • AUGUST 27, 2010, 2:04 P.M. ET U.S. Birth Rate Drops Again Associated Press
  • The U.S. birth rate has dropped for the second year in a row, and experts think the wrenching recession led many people to put off having children. The 2009 birth rate also set a record: lowest in a century.
  • “When the economy is bad and people are uncomfortable about their financial future, they tend to postpone having children. We saw that in the Great Depression the 1930s and we’re seeing that in the Great Recession today,” said Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. “It could take a few years to turn this around,” he added, noting that the birth rate stayed low throughout the 1