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166 comments on DrumBeat: December 13, 2008

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Leanan on December 13, 2008 - 1:01pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

FWIW...there was a study awhile back that found increasing food stamp allotments is the best way to stimulate the economy. People use food stamps, they don't hoard them. And the money stays in the US, a lot more than middle-class tax rebates do (that might be spent on new TVs or whatnot).

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VK on December 13, 2008 - 5:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

What about the possibility of competing currencies? Like what they had in Austria during the great depression. That got the town moving pretty quickly again till the authorities stepped in. Money is a human invention to facilitate trade of goods and services.

People can always use other things for trade and exchange, such as cigarettes, gold coins, alcohol etc.

At a local level, a lot can be done to stave of deflation if people chose to innovate and apply new ideas.

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pinealone on December 13, 2008 - 7:57pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

That should be fine, right after the average weight of a US citizen has returned to normal and the obesity plague has resolved.

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Leanan on December 13, 2008 - 8:05pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Ironically, the poor tend to be more obese than the rich. Junk food is cheap, while fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat are expensive. So increasing food stamp allotments might actually reduce obesity.

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jokuhl on December 13, 2008 - 11:55pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Exactly..
you can't buy McD's with food stamps.

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earldaily on December 14, 2008 - 12:36am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"You can't buy ammo with food stamps"
The Milagro Bean Field War
Funny book, bad movie

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Don in Maine on December 14, 2008 - 1:56am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Well give it just a bit of time, they are hard and fast into their 1$ menu, only a matter of time before they take foods stamps and government vouchers. They are going to be the new soup kitchens. The planning and infrastructure are there, so a grant to feed people from the government is no different than collecting cash. This is, at least, for the first part of the slide down Classic capitalism.

So it gets bad, Obama wants to help, he sets it up so you present your id, and get a free meal, and the government prints some dollars to pay the McDonalds corp. Far fetched right? I can picture a time when the drive thru becomes the walk thru for free food.

Don in maine

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Consumer on December 14, 2008 - 11:15am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"Far fetched right?"

Not really, I could see it happening.

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166 comments on DrumBeat: December 13, 2008

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