Why didn the money borrowed for the stimulus package go directly to American tax payers?
Unluckily, that $200,000 number has been floating around for a while and is not true. Even using the more recent figure that the various bailouts will cost $2.5 trillion in total, with 230 million citizens in the US, that would work out to less than $10,000 per person (closer to $8,000). And while that might sound like a lot, remember that much of that first $750 billion is going to be repaid, which the consumer would not be expected to do (so in reality, you can take $3,000 away from the $8,000 and bring the payout down to $5,000). Of the remaining bailout, much of that will go into people’s hands (the $8,000 first time home buyers’ credit, more jobs, etc.), but even if only 1/3 goes directly into consumers hands, that only leaves a bailout of $3,600 per person – not quite the $200,000 that is being thrown around. While $3,600 may seem like alot, in reality, by spreading it around to the entire population, you do less economically speaking than targeted bailouts. I doubt that $3,600 w
