Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Several weeks ago, I received a notice in the mail regarding the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008--I want to say it arrived in late March.
It's hard to complain about the fact that the government is going to be giving us back some of our hard-earned tax dollars. However, it seems like no small coincidence that these payments are being made during an election year, at a time when politicians desperately want to make themselves look good for voters.
That said, I've noticed that ever since I received the notice about this payment, my spending habits have been more conservative. With all the talk we now hear about difficult economic conditions and recessionary pressures, it doesn't exactly make a person want to go out and spend a lot of money.
For example, last month I was looking at purchasing some new dress shirts, and I normally wouldn't think twice about such an expenditure. But after telling myself that it didn't make much sense to buy long sleeve shirts with the weather getting warmer, I didn't end up buying any.
By month end, I wound up saving quite a bit more money than usual. So tonight I logged into my TreasuryDirect account and placed an order for another $500 worth of electronic savings bonds (Series I).
I guess what I'm trying to say is that in some regards, I think the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 is counterproductive. Maybe not everyone feels this way, but rather than make me want to go spend money, this payment makes me want to be more cautious with my finances.
I think we would all be better served if instead of throwing money at the problem in the form of stimulus checks, our elected leaders actually put more thought and effort into fixing some of the underlying issues with the economy. After all, a check for several hundred dollars is not going to do much for you if you're about to lose your home or business, or if you've already lost your job, or if you're struggling with rising prices for basic necessities.
