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Have you spent your economic stimulus money before you’ve even gotten it?

A friend just sent me a Private Message on a forum I belong to, asking me whether I thought we were heading perhaps into another "Great Depression." (For you youngsters not familiar with the expression, the "Great Depression" was that period of worldwide economic depression which took place basically between 1929 and the start of World War II. It sort of defined the expression "hard times.")

No, I told her, we're getting into a recession, but probably not a depression, certainly not another Great Depression. One of the reasons I think we'll make it through this current recession, believe it or not, is because I see a little value in these economic energy pills coming to us in the form of $600-$1,200+ tax rebate checks. (They really aren't "tax rebates," but that's sort of how they've become known.) I know, I know -- that's probably too little money coming much too late to be of great value.

But, as my wonderful grandmother would often say to me when I was a child, "Every little bit counts." I suspect we've all spent most of that windfall long before it gets to us. Or we'll use it to pay down debt from credit cards, past-due bills, or whatever. But then, ANYTHING we do with the money is better than nothing at all.

My personal concern is more with the lousy value of the dollar against foreign currencies right now than it is with other economic factors. The decreasing value of the dollar, you know, is the biggest single reason for the astronomical jump in crude oil prices -- which have "trickled down" to jack up the price of gasoline, jacking up the cost of everything from food to funny papers.

So for goodness sakes, when you get that hefty rebate check -- be a good American and SPEND it, will you??
[tags]economic recession, government rebate checks, rising prices, devalued dollar, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]