# Prof. David Backus on President Obama's "Fix It First" program

1 Faculty News February 13, 2013 ![Huffington Post logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/huffpost192x144.jpg?itok=sF2Y0c9v)>

Excerpt from [The Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/state-of-the-union-unemployment_n_2680288.html) -- "But the dollars simply can't achieve the objective, said [David Backus](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/david-backus), an economist at NYU's Stern School of Business. 'Fifty billion dollars is basically an immaterial number for the U.S. economy,' Backus said. 'We have a 14-trillion dollar economy. Will there be an employment effect? Maybe. But it'll be swamped by anything else that goes on.'"

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