President-elect to 'lay groundwork for long-term growth' by building infrastructure
Barack Obama has pledged to spend his way out of the looming recession through a huge construction programme.
The president-elect made the announcement yesterday as he introduced the senior members of his economic team at a press conference in Chicago, saying 鈥淲e do not have a minute to waste鈥� on resurrecting the country's failing economy.
Obama said his stimulus package, which would see a massive construction programme for roads, schools, bridges and energy schemes, would 鈥渓ay the groundwork for long-term sustained economic growth鈥�.
Although he refused to give an estimate of the cost, the future US president admitted his package would be 鈥渃ostly鈥�, and the new chairman of the national economic council, Larry Summers, suggested it would need to be as large as $700bn (拢463bn).
With an aim of creating 2.5 million jobs by 2011, the new president's spending agenda promises to be the biggest public works programme since the New Deal that aimed to push the US out of the Great Depression in the thirties.
Obama said he wants to 鈥渉it the ground running鈥� when he takes office on 20 January.
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