So the politicians are practically tripping over themselves to rush out some type of "economic stimulus package", but anything I've heard so far is pretty much complete rubbish...
Republicans - Make the tax cuts from '01/03 permanent, even though they're not supposed to expire till 2010 so what good that'll do now is questionable... The other thing they're pushing for is general corporate tax cuts, but what that will do for the general public is still in question. Major Oil has been getting HUGE handouts from the US Gov in the form of subsidies, but nothing's really trickled down to the pump. Oil prices are up, gas prices are WAY up, and oil company stocks are WAY WAY up, but how that actually has helped me I have no clue.
Democrats - Tax rebate for every man and woman in America, probably in the form of $250 or $300. That did absolutely NOTHING the last time, as most people said "thank you" and then put it towards their CC bill or stashed it in their savings account. The most common answer i heard to the "what are you spending your rebate on" question was "bills". Remember that this was handed out in Aug '01, to be followed by 9/11 (and the resulting huge drop in the market), and the June/August '02 massive drops as well.
It's clear that one of the biggest problems in the market is that housing is too expensive. House prices far outshot wage increases, and you also have property taxes (tied directly to house value) and skyrocketing energy (gas/oil and electric) costs as well. So the only way to get out of this mess are a) for house prices to drop precipitously, which would be catastrophic, or b) for the cost of home ownership to go down. The only way for the government to do that is:
Targeted rebates/income tax credits for owning a home. If your primary residence is a place that you own, you should get a sizable, permanent income tax credit ($1000? $2000?). This wouldn't apply to trailer parks since the land that the trailer is on is usually a lease... *But* this would:
Get a LOT of money into the hands of a lot fewer people, especially richer people who will probably go out and spend it.
Get a LOT of money into the hands of people facing foreclosure, and might forestall or prevent them from losing their house.
Lower the actual costs of owning a home, in effect propping up the housing market. This is where the permanent part comes in. If you could afford 200k for a house, with the $1000/year from income tax reduction you could afford ~$215k. You get tax credits for having kids, buying certain cars, why not the simple act of owning a house?
Besides, what would you guys do with a gov't check for $300, and what would you do with a check for $1000? $300 would probably get lumped into the general household slush fund, but if we were current on CC bills that $1000 would probably go towards actually purchasing something for me/us.
Thoughts? No, I don't know how to pay for this, and no, I'd rather not run up even more debt in this country, but if this country is headed to a recession, then what?
Republicans - Make the tax cuts from '01/03 permanent, even though they're not supposed to expire till 2010 so what good that'll do now is questionable... The other thing they're pushing for is general corporate tax cuts, but what that will do for the general public is still in question. Major Oil has been getting HUGE handouts from the US Gov in the form of subsidies, but nothing's really trickled down to the pump. Oil prices are up, gas prices are WAY up, and oil company stocks are WAY WAY up, but how that actually has helped me I have no clue.
Democrats - Tax rebate for every man and woman in America, probably in the form of $250 or $300. That did absolutely NOTHING the last time, as most people said "thank you" and then put it towards their CC bill or stashed it in their savings account. The most common answer i heard to the "what are you spending your rebate on" question was "bills". Remember that this was handed out in Aug '01, to be followed by 9/11 (and the resulting huge drop in the market), and the June/August '02 massive drops as well.
It's clear that one of the biggest problems in the market is that housing is too expensive. House prices far outshot wage increases, and you also have property taxes (tied directly to house value) and skyrocketing energy (gas/oil and electric) costs as well. So the only way to get out of this mess are a) for house prices to drop precipitously, which would be catastrophic, or b) for the cost of home ownership to go down. The only way for the government to do that is:
Targeted rebates/income tax credits for owning a home. If your primary residence is a place that you own, you should get a sizable, permanent income tax credit ($1000? $2000?). This wouldn't apply to trailer parks since the land that the trailer is on is usually a lease... *But* this would:
Get a LOT of money into the hands of a lot fewer people, especially richer people who will probably go out and spend it.
Get a LOT of money into the hands of people facing foreclosure, and might forestall or prevent them from losing their house.
Lower the actual costs of owning a home, in effect propping up the housing market. This is where the permanent part comes in. If you could afford 200k for a house, with the $1000/year from income tax reduction you could afford ~$215k. You get tax credits for having kids, buying certain cars, why not the simple act of owning a house?
Besides, what would you guys do with a gov't check for $300, and what would you do with a check for $1000? $300 would probably get lumped into the general household slush fund, but if we were current on CC bills that $1000 would probably go towards actually purchasing something for me/us.
Thoughts? No, I don't know how to pay for this, and no, I'd rather not run up even more debt in this country, but if this country is headed to a recession, then what?
but the Pound never fell off like the Dollar might. When the UK poured a lot of resources into the two world wars, there was no global currency competition. 
irate2:
BUT I'm skint so I can't. 
