U.S. manufacturers as well as their European counterparts are lukewarm about whether President Obama’s $819 billion economic stimulus package, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week and due to be taken up by the Senate this week, will revive the economy and improve manufacturing’s prospects this year, according to a new <i>Managing Automation/Manufacturing Executive</i> reader poll.
At the same time, U.S. and European manufacturers have grown more pessimistic about 2009, resulting in lower expectations for automation and information technology spending in the months ahead.
The poll, conducted during the week of Jan. 19, is a follow-up to <i>Managing Automation</i>’s annual <a href=" http://www.managingautomation.com/maonline/magazine/read/view/Outlook_2009_Lightning_Strikes_240350" target="_blank">Outlook reader poll</a>, which was fielded in mid-October 2008 in the United States, and in Europe for the first time under the auspices of <i>MA</i>’s new sister publication, <i>Manufacturing Executive</i>. Results of last fall’s poll showed double-digit declines in confidence about the economy and manufacturers’ own business prospects, as well as cuts in expected technology spending.
The poll taken two weeks ago provides stark evidence that manufacturers are not putting much faith in the Obama Administration’s huge economic stimulus plan. When asked about their level of confidence in the strategy, 44% of U.S. poll takers indicated slight confidence and 16.7% said moderate. Only 3.8% said they had a high level of confidence in the plan. More than one-quarter — 27.6% — said they thought the stimulus package would have no impact at all.