Did fiscal incentives play a role in preventing a deeper economic slowdown?
I think they did. It is hard to know how big the impact was because there is no constant base line. Based on the forecast of what might happen, certainly in the US, industry is better now than what people thought it was six months ago. Part of the effect was on the psychology of individuals. When Obama [ Images ] took over as US president, there was real paralysis in the market in the US. There was fear in households of wealth being wiped out. Business was finding it difficult to get credit. To have a government seen to be trying to deal with the problem, itself had a positive impact. When we had stimulus packages, there were improved government spending and tax cuts. Some tax cuts are more effective than others. For example, the family tax cut in the US. I felt that it could have been better to target lower-income households because they have the propensity to consume more than others. For political reasons, most households got it. It was the biggest tax piece. It was close to $200 bi
