What are you going to do with your economic stimulas rebate?

[GB1]

Something like $800 a person tax refund to try to stimulate the economy. What are you going to buy A new camera?!

[Xia_Ke]

... A new camera?!

Yep I'm thinking maybe a Hasselblad 500C if I stick with 6x6 or a Mamiya 645 Pro TL if I opt for 645. What did you have in mind GB?

[adina]

bleh...ours will go to pay off debt, home improvements, that kind of grown up crap.

I hate being a grown up.

[GB1]

Don't know Aaron.. maybe a trip someplace to do some photography (!) I wish I spoke Spanish... a lot of neat places south of the border.

I still love shooting my Mamiya 645e btw. I wonder sometimes if it's worth it to pick up another ultra wide MF camera, the kind that shoots 120mm x 45mm. eBay has a lot of deals nowadays. Could make some nice landscapes

[Xia_Ke]

You mean 120x60 GB? I was thinking one of these would be fun:

Zero 6x9
Zero 612F

So I take it you're happy with the Mamiya and I shouldn't have any qualms about going the route?

[GB1]

You mean 120x60 GB? I was thinking one of these would be fun:

Zero 6x9
Zero 612F

So I take it you're happy with the Mamiya and I shouldn't have any qualms about going the route?

Aaron - I thought 645 was 60mm wide by 45mm tall (4/3 ratio). So double wide, I thought that would be 120mm x 45mm..?

[Xia_Ke]

The width of the shot/roll is 60, which is why the 6 comes first in MF frame sizes and then the frame height determines the second number which gives you 6x4.5 or 645 (16 shots per roll), 6x6 (12 shots per roll), 6x7 (10 shots per roll), 6x9 (8 shots per roll), and 6x12 (6 shots per roll). Or at least that was my understanding of it.

[Dylan8i]

what this about a tax refund? i don't pay much attention to news. is it on top of our actual refund? being a student (but being payed for it- and paying taxes on it) will i still qualify?


and im trying to save for a 80-400 vr lense or a 70-200 2.8 vr.

if i get 800, id probbably go for the 70-200 and 2.0x.

[Xia_Ke]

what this about a tax refund?...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22725498/ :thumbsup:

[Jimmy B]

hmm the GF needs a new recliner, too many darn options to do with it?
Best option would be to pay off some debt.
Jimmy
never met a recliner I didn't fall asleep on:-)

[another view]

I like getting checks in the mail just like everybody else, but I don't know if this is the best idea... A friend and I were talking about this over a beer (all the major problems get solved this way) and I said that I think a lot of people will either pay off debt or buy imported goods - neither of which will do much along the lines of the intended purpose. Looks like Lou Dobbs and Ben Bernanke feel the same way...

Obviously, paying off debt will do a lot to help the recipient of the check but what will that do to jump start the economy? I'm not an economist (IANAE ) but I'd guess that hiring a contractor would have a lot of economic bang for the buck, along the lines of what they're hoping it will do. The contractor is local, most likely buying materials from local suppliers. Sure, some of the supplies might be imported but that'll be a small percentage of the total cost. Domestic travel is probably a good one too - usually very little money is spent on goods, it's all services.

So - go somewhere and shoot a bunch of Kodak film. Then bring it home and develop it in your newly constructed darkroom!

[mn shutterbug]

Personally, I think it's a stupid idea. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy with an extra $800. However, I'd probably put most of it away for "old age". My wife would have her share gone in to time. I'm sure many people who are living from paycheck to paycheck, would put it away to use it when needed. The timing is all wrong too. It the feds did this in November, people would be more tempted to spend more on Christmas presents. If this happens in the spring, more of it will go into gas tanks for longer vacation trips. Who would this help?

This reminds me of a number of years ago when our idiot governor (Jesse "The Body" Ventura), gave all us MN taxpayers $300. Actually, I think we got 2 rebates, when he was in office. He bragged about the state having all this extra money. It didn't take long before our state was heavily in debt.

[adina]

I think we all got $300, was it like 2001? This is the same concept, designed to stimulate spending.

Yes, this small thread here has a few people who would buy cameras or pay off debt, but if you poll a much much larger number of people, about a month after they receive the check, you're going to have a very high percentage of people who just spend it.

Yeah, we can all say "oh I'm going to save/pay off debt/invest/whatever, but ask us after we have the money.

[mjs1973]

I'm guessing that if we get a check, it will go to paying off some bills that the wife and I will have after getting back from our trip in May. If there is money left over after that, it go in the bank to help rebuild our savings.

[retroactiv]

I'll be paying off some bills, and a recent lens purchase. Then maybe take the family out to do something, and if I have any left over then a flash.

[another view]

Yeah, we can all say "oh I'm going to save/pay off debt/invest/whatever, but ask us after we have the money.

Ha - excellent point!

[Sushigaijin]

sounds like keynesian economics to me, which went out of style when globalization started. Simply cannot stimulate domestic spending by giving taxpayers more money. I think I will go overseas and spend it all in another country. Sounds awfully fitting to me.

[Skyman]

giving away money only devalues the money and widens the poverty gap. I thought the only sure fire way to fix an economy was to start a war......

hmm maybe if they spend the money on health and education the extra doctors and teachers could spen the money and the smarter healthier people growing up would be able to be active little tax payers and consumers, but I am a designer what would i know about economic management?

oh wait I am dutch (well partially) they invented colonization through capitalism, I think you Americans call it free trade.

[mwfanelli2]

giving away money only devalues the money and widens the poverty gap. I thought the only sure fire way to fix an economy was to start a war......

It's worse than that. The poor, hardest hit by Bush's reckless economic policy, will get nothing. The proposed package includes even more money for businesses (can you believe that oil companies still get massive tax "incentives") and for the the top tier of tax payers.

This is a plan doomed to fail. We have spent almost 2 TRILLION dollars for war, money that hurts us all. Just think about all the oil being used for military equipment to "save Iraq." But then, it does come from the Bush administration and his republican a** lickers. With help from the weak all-talk no-action democratic congress of course...

Gee, I'm not angry!

[Xia_Ke]

Well, it's now official...

"Deal Reached on Tax Rebates for Stimulus"

[jorgemonkey]

The wife wants to spend it all on baby clothes. I'll probably give her half, and I'll use my half to pay off my 70-200 that I bought. I use it to make money, so its all good

[photophorous]

I'll probably save some of mine and spend some on Ebay...US sellers only. I've been buying old Minolta Rokkor glass at scandalous prices and there is so much more to be had.

Just for the record though, I think this is a stupid idea. I like free money as much as the next guy, but so much of it is wasted on people that don't need it. It's like airing up your car tire by driving the entire car into a gigantic pressure chamber and cranking up the pressure until it seeps back into the tire through the hole it leaked from.

[another view]

It's like airing up your car tire by driving the entire car into a gigantic pressure chamber and cranking up the pressure until it seeps back into the tire through the hole it leaked from.

Paul, my friend, you have a bright future in politics. Your ability to think outside the box will send you far!

[Dylan8i]

Well, it's now official...

"Deal Reached on Tax Rebates for Stimulus"

so it looks like $300 as a single male who earns a pay check (technically have 2 jobs- one is a stipend from grad school, the other is as an employer for University of Kentucky) but not earning enough to actually pay income taxes (i believe i get it all back).

well looks like it will just go in to my pot of money that pays my bills, food etc, but is also being saved for a 70-200 2.8 vr.

[Xia_Ke]

The stimulus package just zipped through Congress today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/wa...nd-fiscal.html