Compromise Nearing on Economic Stimulus Bill

House, Senate reaching an agreement

Earlier this week, the Senate passed its own version of the economic stimulus bill. Since then, the House and the Senate have been working on a compromise between the two. While negotiations are not over yet, there are some key issues that have been agreed upon thus far with regard to the economic stimulus bill:

1. Total cost is now at $789 billion.
2. Homebuyer tax credit now $8,000, rather than $7,500 or $15,000. Those who received a tax credit from last year no longer have to repay it.
3. Job creation efforts scaled back. Obama and the Dems retreated from 4 million jobs to 3.5 million.
4. Fewer dollars to be spent on education-related construction.

These items could be modified further, until a final compromise is reached. It will be interesting to see how the markets interpret the new economic stimulus package. Right now, though, risk aversion is the name of the game, and the U.S. dollar is gaining in forex trading.

See Also

• U.S. Dollar in Forex Trading
  U.S. economy and the FX market

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