Must-Read: Jonathan A. Parker et al.: Consumer Spending and the Economic Stimulus Payments of 2008
Must-Read: (2011): Consumer Spending and the Economic Stimulus Payments of 2008:
Oon average, households spent about 12-30%… of their stimulus payments on nondurable expenditures during the three-month period in which the payments were received…..
There was also a substantial and significant increase in spending on durable goods, in particular vehicles, bringing the average total spending response to about 50-90% of the payments. Relative to research on the 2001 tax rebates, these spending responses are estimated with greater precision using the randomized timing variation. The estimated responses are substantial and significant for older, lower-income, and home-owning households. We find little evidence that the propensity to spend varies with the method of disbursement (paper check versus electronic transfer).