Krugman says it's going to take a long time to get a stimulus package implemented

Paul Krugman:

Infrastructure spending will take time to get going — a new Goldman Sachs report suggests that projects that are “shovel-ready” are probably only a few tens of billions worth, and that a larger effort would take much of a year to get going. Meanwhile, it’s very questionable how much effect tax rebates will have on consumer demand. So it may be hard for stimulus to get much traction until late 2009 — and that’s even if Congress goes along, which may be a problem given all the bad analysis and disinformation out there.

So here’s what I’m wondering: will it, in fact, even be possible to pull the economy out of its nosedive before unemployment goes into double digits? I’m starting to wonder.

My friend Matt thinks the stimulus package should be doled out to the public in gift cards. Give people gift cards to buy cars, to buy at Best Buy, to shop at Safeway, but it's money that HAS to be spent, it's not cash that you can just put in the bank.