The $787bn stimulus act is not a week old. Vast new initiatives aimed at the US housing market and financial system are still being tweaked. The Treasury is so pressed and understaffed that, when foreign officials call, there is nobody to pick up the phone. This week, for something to do, the administration turns to the rest of the budget and the long-term fiscal outlook.
On Monday this week, the White House hosts a “fiscal responsibility summit” – a meeting of officials, academics, policy advocates and politicians from both parties. President Barack Obama will “lead a frank discussion on how we can address the long-term fiscal problems facing this country”, said his spokesman. On Tuesday, Mr Obama will address his first joint session of Congress, with fiscal priorities a central theme. Then, on Thursday, the White House will publish a budget plan for 2010. Mr Obama says it will be “sober in its assessments” and “honest in its accounting”, and that it will “lay out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline”.
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