Pliny Posted July 6, 2009 Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 Governments, in my view, are more likely to build bureaucratic empires than find proper solutions to social problems. Could it be as simple as the following: This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday. > > The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix > the Economy?" > I think this guy nailed it! > > Dear Mr. President: > Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy. > Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will > squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the > following Plan. You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan: > There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. > Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the > Following stipulations: > > 1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - > Unemployment Fixed. > > 2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered- > Auto Industry fixed. > > 3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - > Housing Crisis fixed. > > It can't get any easier than that! > If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their > Constituents pay their taxes... > > > If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know I don't think this guy's math was to good. The cost would come out to $40 trillion unless my math is wrong. A pretty hefty debt when you consider Obama is only planning on spending 10 trillion over the next 10 years but it will be more like twenty, I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Governments, in my view, are more likely to build bureaucratic empires than find proper solutions to social problems.Could it be as simple as the following: This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday. > > The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix > the Economy?" > I think this guy nailed it! > > Dear Mr. President: > Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy. > Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will > squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the > following Plan. You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan: > There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. > Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the > Following stipulations: > > 1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - > Unemployment Fixed. > > 2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered- > Auto Industry fixed. > > 3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - > Housing Crisis fixed. > > It can't get any easier than that! > If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their > Constituents pay their taxes... > > > If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know I don't think this guy's math was to good. The cost would come out to $40 trillion unless my math is wrong. A pretty hefty debt when you consider Obama is only planning on spending 10 trillion over the next 10 years but it will be more like twenty, I'm sure. Well make it people over 55 instead of over 50 and pay them 0.5 mil instead of 1 mil and you get it down to the same scale as the existing stimulus proposals On a more serious note, it obviously wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. If everyone over 50 retired we'd lose an immense amount of irreplaceable expertise and the efficiency of our industry, commerce, and research establishment would plummet. A sudden surge of demand for 40 million new cars would require a huge ramp up of production and perhaps even the construction of new factories in the short term, only to leave behind a complete lack of demand and another collapse after the surge finished; same thing with the houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pliny Posted July 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 Well make it people over 55 instead of over 50 and pay them 0.5 mil instead of 1 mil and you get it down to the same scale as the existing stimulus proposals On a more serious note, it obviously wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. If everyone over 50 retired we'd lose an immense amount of irreplaceable expertise and the efficiency of our industry, commerce, and research establishment would plummet. A sudden surge of demand for 40 million new cars would require a huge ramp up of production and perhaps even the construction of new factories in the short term, only to leave behind a complete lack of demand and another collapse after the surge finished; same thing with the houses. Well, I'm glad to see someone can see past a single chess move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted July 12, 2009 Report Share Posted July 12, 2009 Well make it people over 55 instead of over 50 and pay them 0.5 mil instead of 1 mil and you get it down to the same scale as the existing stimulus proposals On a more serious note, it obviously wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. If everyone over 50 retired we'd lose an immense amount of irreplaceable expertise and the efficiency of our industry, commerce, and research establishment would plummet. A sudden surge of demand for 40 million new cars would require a huge ramp up of production and perhaps even the construction of new factories in the short term, only to leave behind a complete lack of demand and another collapse after the surge finished; same thing with the houses. You're forgetting the job openings created by people leaving the workforce. Once the unemployed have jobs, they will also increase demand in the long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lily Posted July 12, 2009 Report Share Posted July 12, 2009 After paying off my house - or buying a new one - and buying a new car, I'd be expected to live off the rest of the million I was given to retire? That would be all well and good... if I died within a few years of that forced retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pliny Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 After paying off my house - or buying a new one - and buying a new car, I'd be expected to live off the rest of the million I was given to retire?That would be all well and good... if I died within a few years of that forced retirement. It isn't a well thought out plan, lilly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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