Global crisis: the effect of stimulus plans on employment in the United States

The following graph shows the unemployment rate in the United States with and without the stimulus plan, projected by Barack Obama´s team. Furthermore, the points represent the observed data. As one can see, the observed data is higher than the projected without the stimulus; and much higher than the projected data with the stimulus. In his blog, Mankiw gives his reasons for the disappointing performance of employment in this country.