Economist mark thoma has written, "one of the difficulties in using fiscal policy to combat recessions is getting congress to agree on what measures to implement. automatic stabilizers bypass this difficulty by doing exactly what their name implies."

In a time of downturn, the economy needs a push by implementing at least temporary help with fiscal policy . The government can assist with many creative ways from social insurance to building roads and thus generating new jobs while the upturn approaches. The difference is that negotiations over automatic stabilizers can be carried out when the economy is doing well and delay isn't as costly, and the negotiations only have to be carried out once instead of in each and every downturn.