To spend or not to spend that stimulus check

Published: February 11, 2008, 6:05 am

The economic slowdown has exposed the extremes that have defined Americans for years: too much debt, chronic spending and little savings. The U.S. economy depends a great deal on consumer spending. Repeat after me: Consumption accounts for 70 percent of the $14.08 trillion U.S. economy. To buy what we want, Americans have taken on massive amounts of debt. We have done so even as our savings have evaporated. No, check that: Even as we have blown it all. Conventional wisdom says that when money get tight in the household budget, you tighten your belt. But many of us haven't done that. We've taken on more debt. We've charged things on credit cards. We've refinanced the mortgage two, three, four times. All in the name of delaying that payback. So along comes the President and Congress with an economic stimulus check for you. What the politicians, economists and Wall Street want you to do is to run to Best Buy (better yet, drive your Hummer there) and

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