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[Strife26]

Those are all things that basic capitalism tells us that are appropriate for the government to pay for (major free rider problems, externalities, ect.)

[Kicior]

I've got a question about stimulus. Why is it better when goverment spends money instead of taxpayers?

[Strife26]

Taxpayers have a habit of not spending money or spending it on the wrong stuff.

[Kicior]

What do you mean by the wrong stuff?

[Strife26]

In theory, we're not guaranteed to be spending our money in such a way to best benefit the economy. AKA, we spend it on non-durable goods that are made in China.

[Virex]

Actually, spending money on durable goods is a good way to kill the economy. Durable goods tend to be quite expensive and you only buy them ever so often, meaning an economy based upon then will have a lower value mobility, the same coin is spent far less often then in an economy where most goods have a short life time. And it's how many times a dollar changes hands that determines the strength of the economy.

[Kicior]

We can make the same coin spent far more often by breaking windows

[DJ]

Obviously the government should impose high tariffs on Chinese goods

[scriver]

Taxpayers have a habit of not spending money or spending it on the wrong stuff.

Emphasis on not spending. When the economy goes bad, people become worried, and start saving their money instead of spending it, even if they know the latter is necessary. Giving them more money only make them save more money.

Especially if the people in question have lost their jobs because of the economy. If the government create more jobs, however, these people won't be as worried for the future, and will spend more. And the smaller the unemployment rate, the less people in general will worry.

It's also a matter of attitude. A government spending money will make other people less worried about the future and spending money themselves. A government turtling up and saying "here, the times are hard, have X dollars to help yourself" will only result in people cutting their own costs, especially the kind of unnecessary luxuries that drive large parts of the economy, and start saving in case times get harder.

At least, this of how an economist I met while visiting my brother's university simplified the theory for me.

[Criptfeind]

I'm having some difficultly determining your opinion on the issue.

That is because I did not give it, nor am I going to. (Okay, Yeah, I sort of did. But in a context that makes it not really relevant to this thread.)

I almost never give my opinion on the actual debate. Because I find it uninteresting. So I make another debate that is much more fun.

EDIT: Just noticed this, think you should stop having an opinion on current events. Unless you don't know that "the paper" means journalism.

Yes I would not like you to foist your slang on me. I did not know when you said the paper what you meant. Now I do and I can say that when talking in your local dialect I do indeed read the paper.

[Reelyanoob]

That 'slang' is universally understood in all English-speaking countries. One's where reading hasn't died out at least.

"don't you even read the paper?" is a ubiquitous phrase expressing disbelief that someone doesn't seem up to date on basic news getting around.  ("Oh those young people and their hip "newspaper" slang.")

You're excused from knowing this if English is not you first language.

(EDIT: I try not to mock, but seriously who doesn't know that "the paper" means the newspaper.)

Other phrases you might like to be informed of in case you get confused with newspapers and paper in general:

"it's been in all the papers." does not mean all types of paper has this in it.

"Look, i'm in the paper" does not mean I am encased in paper (if you actually fall into a huge pile of paper, you can say this as a joke)

[Max White]

The government can't do anything right! They fail at everything I ever see the media present. Why when I watch the news I don't see how they upgraded the roads in heavily trafficked areas, I only see that land rates near those areas have risen slightly for some unknown reason. Must be because they are jerks with nothing better to do. No, the government fails at every turn, just as the newspapers and the tv. And if we can't trust the large company's that sells you what you want to read, who can you trust? And really, those companies do well in a capitalist society, so we should all love capitalism!

[mainiac]

I've got a question about stimulus. Why is it better when goverment spends money instead of taxpayers?

It's not better when the government spends money instead of taxpayers.  It's that everyone is spending less.  If the taxpayers spend less and the government spends less, then the economy contracts and we are poorer then before.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

Building a castle on Mars wouldn't solve any of this, but it'd cheer everyone up. Everyone not cheered up can be a colonist.

[jester]

After reading last 8 pages:  Yup, thats socialism alright, nobody can actually agree what it is, but they can still get really worked up about it.