The government’s efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy by doling out checks to workers could backfire, according to two surveys asking consumers what they will do with their checks.

Nearly three-quarters of those asked on both surveys said they will either pay down debt or save any money sent to them as part of an economic stimulus package. The remaining quarter indicated they would spend the money, which is the goal of the program. So that’s $25 billion, not $100 billion, and it’s not clear how quickly it will be spent. What’s more, money that is directed toward lenders, be it to pay off mortgages or credit-card bills, is money that’s already been spent. In other words, it’s already done its job in helping the economy.

International Council of Shopping Centers  found that 46% of respondents said they would mostly pay off debt with the checks while another 28% said they would save the money. Both surveys found that the results didn’t differ across income levels.

The rationale behind the stimulus, which is primarily aimed at lower- and middle-income taxpayers, is that those with less income are more likely to spend the money on things they might not have been able to afford otherwise, such as big-screen TVs or new clothes. That in turn would boost economic activity and help the U.S. avoid a recession.

This is madness. As our infrastructure crumbles and our nation devolves into an uneducated, uncivilized social wasteland, we continue to amass trillions of dollars in debt creating bomb craters in the sands of Iraq.  If this continues, we will follow in the footsteps of all previous corrupt, immoral empires.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Money Savvy, News, Only in America, People, Personal Finance, Political, Studies and Surveys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.