SNAP--THE MODERN STIMULUS

From 1941 to 1945, increased federal spending went “almost exclusively to direct purchase of goods and services,” notes a Bloomberg News blog post. Today, taxes and transfers provide federal economic stimulus. “When you look at the different programs, we find that food stamps and similar programs are really the ones that work because they are being targeted to individuals who are up against their borrowing constraints and aren’t going to work less because they are already unemployed,” said Ricardo Reis of Columbia University and Alisdair McKay of Boston University.

Source: Food Research and Action Center, 5/9/13