Giving Americans Money to Offset Coronavirus Impact Gains Support in Congress

Post by ModernMech » Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 3:24 PM UTC

baron_harkonnen wrote: post #58

shartshooter wrote: post #26

As long as the money is given to folks who need and/or will spend it, it feels like this is the exact situation where the federal government steps in for stimulus. There’s no pull yourself up by your bootstraps talk right now and there shouldn’t be. I know the single parent working a couple of jobs will spend every dime they’re given in a time like this, just to survive. A yuppie like me would just park it in my savi…

Sure people in the top 10% are not likely to need this money, but giving it to everyone is a lot easier and faster than figuring out who needs it the most. Even in that top 10% there are still people that live paycheck-to-paycheck. I was there not long ago. It's a lot better to give everyone the money and be wrong about ~10% of the people needing it then delay it for people who have bill past due right now.

Post by ed312 » Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 3:25 PM UTC

mtberatwork wrote: post #70

ed312 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is impossible to know from demographic information alone exactly how people will spend a windfall. If we're doing helicopter money, we should do it for everyone equally. Maybe instead of food I buy a bunch of video games or beer or some other good. Still keeping the economic engine running.

Why not do a progressive amount based on income (available from the IRS)? Those in higher income brackets would receive less, while those in lower income brackets would receive more.

Post by sailfast » Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 3:25 PM UTC

xefer wrote: post #127

shartshooter wrote: post #26

As long as the money is given to folks who need and/or will spend it, it feels like this is the exact situation where the federal government steps in for stimulus. There’s no pull yourself up by your bootstraps talk right now and there shouldn’t be. I know the single parent working a couple of jobs will spend every dime they’re given in a time like this, just to survive. A yuppie like me would just park it in my savi…

I've seen people mention putting some sort of "use it or lose it" time limit on the money, so that people are motivate to inject it directly into the economy instead of just sitting on it. I'm not sure how feasible such a thing is or if it would hurt the cause of keeping the economy moving.

Post by commandlinefan » Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 3:26 PM UTC

jkhdigital wrote: post #100

abfan1127 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most important aspect of the claim about spending money is the broken window fallacy. Henry Hazlitt wrote a great book on the subject called Economics in One lesson. The simple example is that we can't go around breaking windows to stimulate the economy. Sure, the window manufacturer and the window replacement companies might benefit, however that money which went towards the window could have gone elsewhere. Eng…

It's hard to be an Austrian and a decent human being. Moral hazard is real, but it's hard to stand by and watch humans suffer in a world full of abundance.

Post by nvusuvu » Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 3:28 PM UTC