The package proposed by Congress and the White House to try to stimulate the economy has drawn mixed reactions from experts on small-business.
“When you look at the package, it’s about everything but small businesses,” said George Cloutier, small-business spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The package is worth about $150 billion, with more than two-thirds going toward tax rebates for individuals and couples.
The remaining one-third is aimed at businesses.
Some experts say the stimulus is what the economy needs.
“This creates consumer confidence. It shows that the government is doing something,” said Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.
Fuller said a similar package released in July 2003 had “enormous payoffs.”
“It may not appear that small businesses are getting anything out of this deal, but they are,” Fuller said. “It gets consumers back in the marketplace, so they will be the indirect beneficiaries.”
Business owners need to take advantage of the package’s incentives to update equipment, he said.
“Small businesses need more customers, and that’s what the package will give them,” Fuller said. “You’ll have 100 million people with money in their pockets wanting to spend their money.”
Cloutier expressed disappointment in the package’s lack of specific initiatives for small businesses and questioned its long-term effects.
“As usual, the 23 million small-business owners are getting short-sheeted. There are no specific aspects that target the daily problemsof small business,” Cloutier told The Examiner. “The package provides trickle-down, not real solutions.”
