There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force - Pay them each $1 million dollars tax free severance with the following stipulations:If you do the math, it only comes out to about 40 trillion (I think my reference may have the incorrect numbers) dollars (chump change compared to the debt we've recently acquired; including monies paid to help out banks, the auto industry, the Tax Stimulus Bill 2009, etc.). Anyone care to expand?
1. They retire immediately. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2. They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3. They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.
If more money is needed, have all members in Congress and their constituents pay their taxes.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge advocate of Obama and most of the changes he has decided to make but this would be cheaper...
PS-I know not everyone loves American cars (even me) but...it's just a car, right? And, at least a new one still has a warranty.
Reference here.
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Now, I'm no politician, OR economist, but I think one relevant answer would be:
...because $40 TRILLION is more than the national debt.
then again, what the hell do I know?
Ok, I think my reference may have been wrong in their totals but I think it should only be 40 million, right?
What do you think Mr. Dartmouth? ;)
Oh man, you had to get the nerd started, didn't ya? lol...
Most calculators won't go this high, so if you plug in these #'s you'll get something with a bunch of EEEEE's. So, let's go with a little trick I learned long ago:
When you multiply a bunch of zeros by a bunch of zeros, you can just add the zeros together to get the result, i.e.
100 x 10 = 3 zeros = 1000 (check)
100 X 1000 = 5 zeros = 100,000 (check)
so...
1,000,000 x 1,000,000 = 12 zeros =
1,000,000,000,000 = 1 trillion
we're talking 40 of these, so:
40 Trillion.
People always seem to get bent outta shape when it comes to the debt and deficit, so it be unlikely many would wanna sign off on increasing the US Debt from ~11T to 51T.
My take? "Recession, my ass... Just print more money. Problem SOLVED.
-glad i could help. :P
Ok so I changed my post (yet, again) to match your numbers (cuz I happen to trust you with numbers a bit more than those jackasses on wall street).
:)
You are correct...but most of the crap on the internet is just that anyway...crap.
New rule: Always run my numbers by Plaidr before posting. ;)
Four BIG problems:
Problem #1. The 50 year old workforce are doing jobs that are either irrelevant or about to become irrelevant (think about the babyboomer in your office who refuses to switch from paper to electronic copies of every-damn-thing). It is estimated that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't exist yet, using technologies that haven't been invented yet, all in order to solve problems we don’t even know about yet. This solution would create a shift that would disrupt or halt that process, and in my estimation, create an even bigger problem down the road.
Problem #2. What about the 50 year olds who already have a car? They now have 2 gas guzzlers (because we all know how hard American auto makers are trying with the hybrid… uh huh…). What do they do with their old cars? Trade them in, sell them? If you do that, then there are suddenly more options for younger generations to buy a used car - could be a problem down the line for Mr. Auto Giant. Just ditch them? Great, whats another 10,000 car junkyards?
Problem #3. The average price of a house these days in Seattle is… $350K? $400K? Plus moving expenses, and the inevitable new furnishings expense… So lets say that leaves leaves say, $600K for a person (who by the way is expected to live another 30 to 40 years) on. Oh and is this $1 million tax free? Or will they have to pay taxes on it? If so, that drops it down AT LEAST 25% from the get go. If not, that’s 50 million people less paying taxes (because even the retired pay taxes in the current system).
Problem #4. And one more thing: what about healthcare? We are talking about the portion of the population who needs healthcare the most.
But, yes… it is an interesting thought. :)
After all of that I agree with one thing, print more money!
Sara-Smile,
Like I said the other night-that is EXACTLY the response I expected of you (well thought out!). :) But wasting time on my blog at work?!? That's dedication! ;)
liverfire/Plaidr,
Yes, printing more money would be great...in theory. But, as soon as we do-inflation will skyrocket and it won't make a difference. :( Sad...but true.
If only it were that easy.
How about we just kill all the over 50 people and use the for food, ala Soylent Green.
1 - It provides food for all the poor and starving.
2 - It opens all those jobs up for other workers. The unemployment rate drops to nothing.
3 - The billions of dollars that is currently going to social security and medicaid, can now go towards paying down the national deficit, and more rebate checks for the country
4 - The people in the country get the rebate checks and buy stuff supporting the economy.
5 - Since people are eating people, the cost of other foods decreases including corn.
6 - Corn can be used for biofuels, and since the price drops, the cost of fuel would drop.
7 - Americans love big cars and cheep gas. Since the costs of fuel would drop, we would buy more SUV's, which have huge profit margins for the car companies, saving the American auto industry.
Catching up on some reading CM? ;)
While your ideas are...innovative, ground-breaking, original and somewhat cannibalistic, I think that most Americans would probably vote for printing more money and coping with inflation before killing half of the population and using them for food.
But...you're thinking outside the box! That's what this country needs!
PS-what do you have against your parents, huh? :)
my parents aren't over 50.... oh wait, yes they are...
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