Only 27% plan to spend their rebates
When I urged people to save their “stimulus” checks, not spend them, I had no idea that my advice would strike a sympathetic chord with the majority of Americans. But according to a survey just released by American Century Investments, only 27 percent of Americans plan to spend the check they’ll get from the government later this year. Twenty-five percent plan to save or invest the money, and 36 percent plan to pay down debt. (Nine percent don’t expect to get the rebate, and 3 percent say they’ll do “something else” with the money.)
For the macro economy, paying down debt is the equivalent of saving. Neither provides any immediate stimulus. So, if these poll results are to be believed, President Bush is flat-out wrong to say that the just-passed stimulus bill is “robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective.”
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
I o spend my rebate at a massage parlor, where stimulus is guaranteed.