Veronique de Rugy of Mercatus has done some analysis of the allocation of federal stimulus spending based on the data available at Recovery.gov. One of her findings is that where money is spent doesn't appear to be related to unemployment or decline in employment in districts (As economists would like to be the case with a Keynesian stimulus). What explains how stimulus spending is allocated?
The average Democratic district receives 81 percent more than the average Republican district.
A significant part of this result is due to state capitals being mostly located in Democratic districts, and receiving much more in stimulus allocations. However:
Even after taking out the money spent through state capitals, the average Democratic district receives at least 30 percent more than the average Republican district.
So, good news for projects (such as the Streetcar) located in Ohio's 1st district, currently represented by Democrat Steve Driehaus. But, it's bad news for people living in the other districts of the Tri-State which are all currently represented by Republicans - They are paying the same taxes for stimulus spending across the country, but on average receive significantly less. ...I live in the 1st district ;-)
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