An expectations game

Sometimes in the back and forth over models, projections, graphs, and the like, some folks forget about the psychological liquidity the stimulus stands to inject into the economy. Such injections can be quick and small in volume, such as a jump in the Dow after a good jobs report, while others--like President Obama's announcement that if the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is passed, the Caterpillar corporation will re-hire some of the twenty thousand employees it has laid off in recent weeks--slowly but surely, piecemeal, build up the confidence of the firms, investors, and consumers (read: us) that will allow things to turn for the better.