How can I stimulate the economy?

1. 79

   Earl S. Wynnposted 12 years ago

   How can I stimulate the economy?
   
   I know that buying things stimulates the economy-- there are also other ways, and specific places where buying things would have a bigger impact.
   
   

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2. 61

   Moderndayslaveposted 12 years ago

   Buy something made in America. Shop at a small local merchant if possible. If you can't get your item  locally buy it directly from the manufacturer. The corporations that have outsourced the majority of our manufacturing jobs are sitting on a couple of trillion in cash,they will live. 
   http://americansworking.com/

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3. 92

   greatstuffposted 12 years ago

   Government spending on infrastructure projects will have many multipling effects on many sectors and hence will stimulate the economy. If you are part of this think tank process/team, then you should push hard for the approval. If not part of the team, then lobby for it.

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4. 61

   DanielNeffposted 12 years ago

   Buying products made in America, and from locally owned stores will stimulate the economy. Do not buy from Walmart or other large chains (if you want to stimulate our economy). Most of their products are made in China, and Walmart will always be open, even in a down economy. Your business there might provide one local part time minimum wage job (and make the Walmart corporation richer), but your business at a local store that sells things made in America will have multiplicative effect on the economy. Spend money at local eateries.
   
   Sorry, but government spending does NOT stimulate the economy.
   
   If, when we did this ridiculous stimulus bill a couple of years ago, we would have given the money straight to unemployed people instead, you would have seen a huge impact on the economy.
   They spent (let's round it off) $850 Billion dollars.
   If you divide that number by 50,000, you get 17 million. That is the approximate number of people un/underemployed (counting those who have dropped off the rolls and those working a part time minimum wage job trying to support a family).
   If you say 10 million of those are collecting unemployment, you would reduce unemployment costs to the government by 274 Billion (average of $264 a week times 10 million people, and they don't get any unemployment for two years), already reducing the net cost of the stimulus by nearly a third.
   If you gave $50,000 to those 17 million people (do it in weekly installments so they don't go out and buy a yacht or hummer) you would see the economy stimulated like you wouldn't believe. People would be able to pay their rent/mortgage, go out to eat, shop, go to the movies.
   But instead, we did things like fund a study at a university where they paid college girls a monthly stipend to report on their drug/alcohol use and their sexual activity. That might have been stimulating, but not the kind we needed.

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