In testimony before the congressional Joint Economic Committee last week, George Mason University economist Russell Roberts made a similar point with regard to job creation and the stimulus. “There is no reliable way of knowing whether the stimulus package has averted a worse situation - or whether it’s part of the problem. There is no consensus in the economics profession on this question, and no empirical evidence that can settle the dispute.’’

Most people assume that fixing the economy is the government’s responsibility - that it needs to do something to get the unemployed back to work. “That may not be possible,’’ Roberts said. Government fixes have a habit of generating unintended and unfortunate consequences. Government intervention, far from dispelling economic anxiety, often exacerbates it. “Doing less might, paradoxically, be more successful than doing more.’’

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