We are doomed...

[rrcamp]

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/kausfiles/2010/10/06/dale-launer-s-exploding-plastic-stimuls.html?from=rss

I love how the only thing they can find wrong with this idea is that people might save it...

 

[matthalifax]

bahahaha lolled at this one

 

[sevin]

Wow, what a horrible idea.

I've been in conversations with people who think this sort of thing would be good for the economy. They say if you print money for people to spend at stores, it gives the stores, manufacturers, etc. work to do, they make more money, and on and on.

I keep trying to explain that when people take things from a store (take, not buy, because the money is free), they take work and effort from someone else.

It's the whole broken window fallacy again, god I fucking hate that fallacy more than all the fallacies, i'm so sick of trying to explain it to people, uggh!

 

[DamianTV]

Ya know what else would super-stimulate the economy? Forgive all US Citizen debt (houses, cars, credit cars, everything, fuck the banks), and allow them to keep their lines of credit open. The economy would explode all over itself like an adolescent boy with a porno mag, some lubricant, a handy wipe, and some privacy.

Ya know what else besides that would fix the economy? Not getting this far in the first place, IE, read my sig, duh.

 

[hugolp]

You know, its not such a bad idea if you think about it.

The objective of the stimulus theory is to give politicians a cover up to spend. But if the stimulus happens this way, then policians dont see a dime. The money goes directly to the citizens. So politicians wont have any incentive to "stimulate" (because the money does not go through them) and they wont do it (or will do it in very small size).

So this might just be a good way to kill the stimulus. If this gets popular I can even see Krugman saying that stimulus is a bad idea.

EDIT: On second thought, its a horrible idea, because politicians will promise more stimulus for the people just to get elected.