Back in 2009, The US Government announced that there will be a stimulus check for almost everybody. This was done to help people breathe a little bit (and hopefully have some of them spend the cash to get the economy rolling again). At the beginning of 2010, the US Government was discussing an additional 2010 stimulus check for Social Security (SS) recipients. Then, in March 2010, the stimulus check for SS recipients was rejected by the Senate. Unfortunately, since then, no other stimulus checks for 2010 or 2011 have been discussed.

So they “technically” saved $13 billion. Was it a good move? I don’t think so, and I also think that there should be additional help for students!

The idea behind the Stimulus Check Process

The very first premise of issuing stimulus checks is that most of the money distributed by the government will come back to them through the taxes paid by consumers and workers that keep their jobs since people keep on spending. Basically, they prime the economic machine with fuel in order to generate economic activity.

Technically, it can work since you can count on most individuals to spend this money and “apply” the Government plan as expected. However, if someone decides to save this money or pay off debt (which would be a great idea, though!), this money does not fuel the “economic machine” and ruins the Government plan.

In the end, stimulus checks were also a great way to gain some political points too!

Why a Student Stimulus Check in 2011 Would Be A Good Idea?

I think that creating a stimulus check program for students would be a great idea because it would help to support the taxpayers of tomorrow. In a rough economy, we certainly don’t want to have promising students discouraged and overwhelmed by debt to the point of quitting school.

Since part time jobs are difficult to find, and full time jobs even harder. Many unemployed individuals will take any job on the market to pay the bills until they find something better. These are the jobs usually occupied by students. As a result, it can become harder for them to get a part time job and pay for their tuition.

Apart from student loans and grants, a additional stimulus check would be a great way to encourage students to finish their studies.

Since educated people tend to get better jobs, higher salaries and pay more taxes, the stimulus check for students would be more like an investment in future taxpayers instead of charity for those who don’t work.

Do we have any chance of seeing another stimulus check in 2011?

While I think it would be a great move from the government (especially since they still have 50% of their 780G$ allocated for spending), I haven’t seen any mention in the newspapers about the next stimulus check.

It seems that the biggest concerns were concentrated on the healthcare system and then toward the tragic oil spill (thx to BP!). Unfortunately, we live in a world of emergencies and creating new stimulus check programs is not one of the most urgent things to do right now!

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Mike

Mike

Mike, aka The Dividend Guy, authors The Dividend Guy Blog since 2010 and manages portfolios at Dividend Stocks Rock. He is a passionate investor.