Economic Stimulus: Are These People Insane?

The blowhards in Washington have now decided that since the economy is slowing down, it is their obligation to do something about it. And what's their answer? Send free money to everyone! They will now print -- or borrow -- more fiat money, so that they can send everyone some of that free money.

Sounds like a helicopter drop to me!

I have a better idea. Why don't they just print more money and send a check to every American each month, and we'll all just stop working and live off the "economic stimulus" checks each month? Then, we can all sit around watching TV and playing monopoly with the play money the government provides to each of us to live on. We'll just sit and get fat waiting for our monthly "economic stimulus". Absurd thought, isn't it? And yet the politicos make it sound soooo good when they couch such absurdities in talk of "packages", percent of GDP, timeliness, etc. It's still free money -- responsibility-free!

How long can we simply print more money, without any plan for earning it, and just give it away, without the chickens coming home to roost? Eventually, simply creating more and more paper money, and more and more debt, won't work any more, and the house of economic cards will collapse. When Americans begin to realize that all this money is just created from thin air, they will lose confidence in it, and hyperinflation will be the result. No one will want to accept it because it will be just paper. Heaven help us all when that day comes!

Note: while the graphic indicates when Ronald Reagan took office, it does not indicate that Reagan begged and pleaded for the Democrat-controlled Congress to cut spending, but they never did. The Constitution clearly states that Congress is responsible for the budget and spending, not the President. Reagan still signed the appropriations bills, however. At best, I suppose we can affix blame to both parties. During the Bush years, however, the exploding deficit and spending could only be laid at the feet of the Republicans. That's why neither party, in my view, has any credibility left in talking about controlling their spendthrift ways. It's all just talk!

The creating of more and more paper money, combined with mailing all this new money to everyone -- a helicopter drop -- will just create more and more inflation. (See the purple-colored graph.) Our government hopes that it can simply inflate its way out of economic distress. The danger is that throughout human history, eventually, every system of fiat money has lead to hyperinflation as the citizens realize that their money has no foundational value, and they spend it as fast as they can acquire it, leading to hyperinflation and eventual collapse into worthlessness. Those who are unwilling to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them!