Post #946: A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.

Image source:  The Dismal Science, A Novel, by Peter Mountford, via Amazon.com

The stimulus fairy came by last week and left $1200 under my pillow. 

I was surprised.  I don’t think of my self as needing stimulus.  Not of that sort, anyway.  And I didn’t get in on the first round of COVID stimulus, because at that time I was still working and had some income.

But now that I’m retired and a drain on society?  Hey presto, free money.

Of course, to an economist, “free” is a four-letter word.  In keeping with The Dismal Science, I immediately began working out all the downsides of that transaction.

And so, after sloughing off that charity payment to an actual charity, I whipped up a batch of hot chocolate.  I sat by my wood stove and put my feet up.  And settled in for a nice, relaxing reading of the Congressional Budget Office Monthly Budget Review, starting with October 2020 edition (for the fiscal year ending 9/30/2020).  With a side order of National Income and Product Accounts data, courtesy of the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

And so this is a post about the COVID stimulus payments, GDP, and why there ought to be better means testing for COVID stimulus money. Continue reading Post #946: A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.