Trickle Up Economy

Lawrence B. Lindsey, a conservative columnist for the Washington Post, proposed an interesting idea for creating a stimulus that would have an immediate impact: cut payroll taxes in half. Employees and employers would both have the immediate benefit of more money in their pocket. Employees can use that extra $1500 or so to pay off debt (and therefore solidify struggling banks) or spend, pumping money directly into the economy. Employers would be less likely to lay people off because they would have more capital to continue to pay their employees. Rather than give money directly to banks and hope they spread it around, the little guy would get the opportunity to take care of their own debt/mortgage. Lindsey calls this a "trickle up economy." To compensate for the loss of revenue for Social Security, which comes out of payroll taxes, Lindsey suggests taking money that would have gone toward a stimulus package and put that money into social security. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Having said that, I do think that some kind of stimulus and investment in our infrastructure is overdue – repairing bridges and roads and upgrading our electrical grid so we can be competitive (and safe) is a no-brainer. Creating a greener, healthier environment SHOULD be a no-brainer.

A disclaimer, Lindsey DID work for the Bush administration, and I don't pretend to understand everything he has to say in his article, which you can read here, but it certainly offers a fresh perspective.