Economic Stimulus: How Much Has Been Spent So Far?
December 10, 2008 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Consumer warning, Economy, News, Trends
We’ve all heard about economic stimulus packages, and, really, the big ones, like the $700 billion package or the housing rescue package are being talked about quite a bit. But there are smaller packages — like the student loan guarantees and the unemployment benefit extensions — that we don’t really know about. And then there are the huge expenditures that get brief coverage in the news: Commercial paper funding ($1.4 trillion) and money market guarantees ($719 billion).
When you think about it, even the $1 trillion economic stimulus being considered right now is really a drop in the bucket. It’s exceptionally hard to keep track of how much all of this economic stimulus is costing the country. The national deficit is going to be massive. Happily, though, CNN Money has created this handy economic stimulus chart:
It’s depressing, but it really gives you an idea of the scope of the spending we’re talking about. In fact, it’s the sort of numbing amounts that make you say to yourself, “It doesn’t matter how much more we spend now, we’re in so deep.” Deficits of this magnitude really make me wonder how anyone could be considering an income tax holiday. I don’t think the government could afford it.
What do you think of what’s been allocated so far for economic stimulus?
image source: CNN Web site
How much would each citizen recieve if the government took all the bailouts and stimuli packages totaled them and divide them per capita? Wouldn’t that be the bailout that makes the most sense for the American public?
I think if 7.2 trillion is the number we would all recieve $24,000 if our population is 3 hundred million. Food for thought.
You make an excellent point. I’ve actually ranted about this to some degree on my personal blog: http://bloggingprofessional.blogspot.com/2008/12/economic-stimulus-and-bailouts.html and also on the Personal Finance Corner: http://www.allbusiness.com/banking-finance/banking-lending-credit-services-mortgage/11729935-1.html
If they’re serious about stimulating consumer spending, they’ll actually just give us the money straight up. Might as well. The “trickle down” from banks isn’t working.