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Highlands Today

We All Want An Easy Fix

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By Joyce Minor | Highlands Today

Published: March 29, 2009

Recently a major metropolitan newspaper asked its readers how they would "fix" the American economy. Responses ran the gamut from serious to silly and everything in between. In one of the more intriguing suggestions, a reader wrote:

There are about 40 million people over age 50 in the U.S. work force. Pay them each $1 million with the following stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs. Result: 40 million job openings - unemployment fixed.

2) They buy new American cars. Result: 40 million cars ordered - auto industry fixed.

3) They buy a new or existing home. Result: 40 million homes sold - housing crisis fixed.

Sounds good, but I would add one other requirement:

4) They put what's left in a local community bank. Result: Banks have money to lend - financial squeeze fixed.

Now, let's look a little closer at the probable results of all that.

After buying a house and a car, would those 40 million people have enough left to live on until they're old enough to go on Social Security? Some of them would have as long as 12 years to wait - twelve years during which they are not paying into the system.

What would they do for medical insurance? After buying a house and a car, would there be enough left to live on as well as pay all medical expenses out of pocket? True, many of them would be eligible for Social Security and Medicaid within months after receiving their million dollars. But wouldn't it put an unmanageable strain on those already overextended programs to have so many taking early retirement?

I've always wondered why wealthy people even get to draw Social Security. I know they paid into it all their lives like the rest of us, but somehow it just seems wrong. Of course it depends on your definition of wealthy.

Granted, some of the people who received the $1 million to retire at 50 would be married couples who would then have $2 million between them. Surely that would be enough. And many would invest it wisely, helping to grow the economy. Some generous souls would give the lion's share to charities and that too could help the economy.

But wouldn't people as young as 50 quickly get bored with retirement and soon find themselves looking for jobs just to stay busy? And wouldn't some blow it all on lavish living, gambling, and travel, and soon find themselves right back in the same financial squeeze? Of course. There are always some who can't handle money – lotteries have already taught us that.

Maybe that "simple" fix is not so simple after all. But how about this one?

My son suggested a government "bailout" for all the college grads unable to repay their student loans? That would also become a bailout for Fannie Mae, the company holding the majority of those debts. And millions of additional dollars would be poured back into the economy by grads who would then have an extra $200 or $300 a month to spend?

Of course, the reason my son came up with that suggestion is that he is a college grad struggling to repay his student loans. And I'd be willing to bet that the reader who suggested the million-dollar payout to people over 50 is himself over 50.

Obviously, we are all thinking the same thing: Why can't I get in on the free money? Why should responsible people have to work hard, scrape to make ends meet, maybe even take a pay cut to keep their jobs, while the people who caused this crisis are handed millions of dollars free? Why?

So what's your clever idea for "fixing" our economy? Share it with me: jomin8549@gmail.com.

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