Two Hammers

Before running out and blowing your tax rebate check on the first big screen tv you see at Wallmart, let us consider how that money can feather your nest and also help your local economy.  Spending the money on a big screen tv is almost like direct deposit into a foreign bank account; a small percentage will stay with the local retailer, and a smaller percentage will stay with the trucking company, but the majority of the money is going straight to a foreign manufacturer.  Instead consider spending the money on locally manufactured goods and services with a large labor component.  Buy a piece of art from a local artist, or a product made at a local manufacturer.  Crown moulding in the living room will make a nice job for a local carpenter and painter while sprucing up the home.  Or, the unemployed carpenter down the street could use a couple of days pay doing maintenance projects around your home.  Money spent on local labor will circulate at least once locally before heading offshore to a foreign bank account.

The local businesses which are going to be the main benefactors of such spending need to do their part also.  Invest the windfall profits on tools and equipment, software, and employee training; which will enhance your capabilities or increase efficiency.  That way you will be in better shape to weather a recession.  In addition, the money will circulate a second time through the economy and have a multiplying effect.

We all watch too much tv anyway!