Remember This Catchphrase: "Maybe Too Little, Always Too Late"

Now that the stimulus package is about to become law (likely signed by Barack Obama on President's Day next Monday no less!), here's something to keep in mind. And on file.

And if this chart is correct, then break out the champagne, because happys days are here again!

As Reason contributor Bruce Bartlett wrote in the January 23, 2009 New York Times:

The history of anti-recession efforts is that they are almost always initiated too late to do any good. This chart, based on recession timelines from the National Bureau of Economic Research, shows the enactment of stimulus plans is a fairly accurate indicator that we have hit the bottom of the business cycle, meaning the economy will improve even if the government does nothing.