Economists are at odds in the debate surrounding the efficacy of president Barack Obama's $787 billion (£477.6 billion) fiscal stimulus plan, Bloomberg reported.Speaking to the news agency, Richard Clarida, global strategic adviser at California-based Pacific Investment Management, said that the package, introduced in February, has not seeped through to homeowners in the form of new borrowing.As such, the bailout will only have a limited effect in stanching the haemorrhaging of jobs and shoring up the value of real estate and securities, added Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of DHE Consulting.However, Jared Bernstein, chief economic adviser to vice-president Joseph Biden, defended the package, insisting that "it's working, it's demonstrably working".Earlier this month, the news agency also reported that China's stockpiling of foreign currency - with total reserves now worth $2 trillion (£1.2 trillion) and predominantly held in US dollars - has helped to keep the US stimulus plan on track by allowing the administration to sell off record amounts of government debt.