The Truth About Stimulus Checks

Stimulus checks add billions to the federal debt, ensuring future taxes and discouraging individuals and businesses from spending money they’ll need in the future. Short-run assistance can be justified on humanitarian grounds and should be focused on small businesses and individuals who have suffered hardship from government-imposed lockdowns.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is targeted assistance more effective than providing stimulus checks regardless of need?
2. What factors should be considered when creating a good long-term economic recovery policy?

Additional resources:

• Read “Those $2000 Check Won’t Boost the Economy,” by John Cogan and John Taylor, via the Wall Street Journal. Available here.
• Read “The ‘Stimulus’ and the Damage Yet to Come,” by David Henderson, via Defining Ideas. Available here.
• Read “The Anti-Stimulus Bill,” by David Henderson, via Defining Ideas. Available here.