tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post7802233461662006058..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: Are Those $250 Social Security Checks Just Pandering to Seniors?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-80288508947274794192009-11-02T15:05:44.800-05:002009-11-02T15:05:44.800-05:00What Min said.
The author made also one additional...What Min said.<br />The author made also one additional point - that seniors are the group that have arguably been hurt the least in this downturn whilst the young have been hurt the most.<br /><br />And in my experience, youth spend, elderly (even when not employed) hoard. My elderly neighbor owns the building, lives in its second floor apartment and the commercial space on the ground level has been vacant for 30 years because she doesn't want a downstairs neighbor and doesn't want to move. Due to the location, it literally does bring down the entire core of the town having a perpetual vacancy in that spot.<br /><br />A young person would never do that or be like that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-35197581535290023272009-10-30T14:21:55.810-04:002009-10-30T14:21:55.810-04:00"If a young person were given $250, he would ..."If a young person were given $250, he would likely save most of it."<br /><br />What planet do you live on?Minnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-25176005989387222752009-10-30T13:48:16.324-04:002009-10-30T13:48:16.324-04:00Dean Baker has an interesting critique of this NYT...Dean Baker has an interesting critique of this NYTimes oped:<br /><br />www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press_archive?month=10&year=2009&base_name=david_leonhardts_agebased_poli<br /><br />In it, one of Dean's points goes something like this:<br /><br />"The elderly will spend a high share of their checks, which makes this a good form of stimulus."<br /><br />Dean seems to be relying on the same life cycle model thinking that I relied upon.ProGrowthLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17138489390594441753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-10066215038021241102009-10-30T09:50:04.538-04:002009-10-30T09:50:04.538-04:00Shag,
Yes. I would expect that many older people...Shag, <br /><br />Yes. I would expect that many older people who continue to work have more discretionary income than those who don't work. Not least because it would tend to be professionals and higher income people who have both the opportunity and incentive to continue working after age 65. So it wouldn't be prudent to generalize from how income from work is saved or spent to all income. People who must rely ONLY on their pension income would be more likely to spend the $250.Sandwichmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11159060882083015637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-53061074704722896462009-10-30T08:27:32.720-04:002009-10-30T08:27:32.720-04:00Query: Does Walker's correction take into con...Query: Does Walker's correction take into consideration that money is fungible and older people spend what they have to for survival, whether from employment (if available to geezers) or pensions/social security income? At age 79, I'm not looking forward to the $250, but if it comes, I'll spend it as needed. Perhaps the $250 is needed more for younger groups upon whom we geezers rely for our social security income.Shag from Brooklinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312591102812315460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-27404779536773848842009-10-29T17:45:56.500-04:002009-10-29T17:45:56.500-04:00Correction: older people have a higher propensity ...Correction: older people have a higher propensity to save income from <b>employment</b>. So that might not necessarily apply to pension or social security income.Sandwichmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11159060882083015637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-27815687665918584612009-10-29T17:27:56.349-04:002009-10-29T17:27:56.349-04:00Don't know many young adults, eh, PGL?
And, y...Don't know many young adults, eh, PGL?<br /><br />And, yes, the four options Leonhardt presents are an egregious case of pushing your argument into the choices offered, as in a push poll. The presumption for (c) is that total real GDP over time is independent of fiscal policy, which is quite absurd.BruceMcFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08502035881761277885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-11023117790823159682009-10-29T14:52:19.441-04:002009-10-29T14:52:19.441-04:00Leonhardt presents his alternatives as a push-poll...Leonhardt presents his alternatives as a push-poll question.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-31902296130885479692009-10-29T14:46:11.662-04:002009-10-29T14:46:11.662-04:00Actually, PGL, the life-cycle model has been shown...Actually, PGL, the life-cycle model has been shown to be empirically wrong. Seniors save MORE of their income than prime-age earners. A young person would be likely to save NONE of it rather than MOST of it considering there's 30% U6 labor under utilization for 16-24 year olds and that many more will be, say, going to school or working at entry level jobs etc.<br /><br />It makes more sense to base a practical decision like this on the empirical evidence rather than on a "model" that has been shown to be wrong.Sandwichmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11159060882083015637noreply@blogger.com