Fed spends $1.2T
The Federal Reserve Board will spend $1.2 trillion to buy long-term government bonds and other securities as a way to stimulate economic activity. That $1.2 trillion could give every adult roughly $1,000 a month for six months.
Give us the money. We’ll stimulate economic activity by our spending. We’ll make mortgage payments, ending the foreclosure crisis. We’ll buy houses and strengthen housing markets. We’ll also save money, and thus help recapitalize banks. That’s the rapid, reliable, responsible way to end the recession — give the money to us.
A question people commonly ask when they first hear about Citizen Dividends is: How will we pay for it? Where will the money come from?
One possible answer — for the short-term, in any case — is on the front page of today’s Washington Post:
The central bank, effectively, will print more money to pay for the purchases.
Here’s the complete Post story.
In the longer term, we’ll pay for it by cutting government programs that become superfluous, starting with the bailouts and handouts to big corporations, including AIG and the banks. There will no longer be any rationale for corporate welfare to create jobs, because everyone will have an income for food and shelter while they find or create their own jobs. We’ll also be able to cut most individual welfare programs, federal, state, and local.
Indeed, the long-term is when we’ll really be grateful to have Citizen Dividends. Sooner or later our federal government is going to cut spending and start balancing its budget. That’ll be a lot easier politically when we’re united by Citizen Dividends. And it’ll be a lot more just, humane, and sustainable.
Steven Shafarman
Tags: bank crisis, economic stimulus, Federal Reserve Board, financial crisis, ordinary Americans