Obama’s latest effort to help underwater homeowners, who are current, refinance at lower rates will help, but, it’s no panacea. Estimates are that a million households will take advantage of this plan and will, on average, save $2,500/year. If all $25 billion gets spent it will boost our economy by 0.16% of GDP. Of course this assumes none of the interest income that will be lost ($25 billion) was spent. So, the net effect will be somewhat less.