The Updated Obama Stimulus vs. No-Stimulus vs. Reality Chart

Here it is, with yours truly adding the June dot (May version found at e21):

The dark blue line represents what the Obama administration promised if Congress passed the stimulus bill, which it did, with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown “flying aboard a government plane from Ohio, where he was mourning his mother's death,” to cast the deciding vote.

The light blue line represents what the administration said would happen if the stimulus bill didn't pass.

The red dots represent actual unemployment rates since then.

Clearly, doing nothing would have been better.

This chart should end up being one for the history books — and become standard fare in macroeconomics texts.