I heartily agree that economics is the "dismal science", and I almost always suspect that economists are as full of crap as a postmodernist cultural studies essayist. They use lots of jargon and charts and math that probably don't mean anything, and I'm supposed to believe that they have a clue about what is going on with the economy. If they're so damn smart, why aren't they raking it in on the stock market? Because they're just guessing and they hope nobody calls them on it if they're wrong.
What I really don't get is how giving a bunch of people a few hundred of their own dollars is supposed to jump start the economy. Once the rebate is spent, it's gone, and folks aren't any richer or more secure than they were before they got the rebate. Why aren't people spending? Because they don''t feel as rich as they did before the housing bubble burst. A few years ago, they had all this home equity, and it made them feel like they had a cushion and could splurge on a bathroom remodel or a vacation or a bass boat or what have you. Now, the equity is gone or way reduced, and they think twice or thrice about every expenditure.
What can be done to help with home values? Throw resources into the real estate market? Make it easier to get a mortgage? You tell me, Mr Smarty Pants Economist!
How is adding "liquidity" to big banks going to help if they aren't willling to put it in real estate? How is that supposed to make me and my neighbors feel like spending money? Good thing those fat cat bankers are swimming in cash! Now I can start buying stuff again! Please.
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