A correspondent asks:
I’m searching for economic advice. If I were to create a national holiday meant to coincide with the stimulus package being planned in Washington, when would be a good time to have the holiday?
It’s not so much an economic question, and I dunno. Perhaps, like “Love Day” from The Simpsons [*], it should fill in the gap between established spending opportunities. In one of many cases of life imitating The Simpsons, many of those gaps have been filled — as Easter, for one thing, is being marketed increasingly as Christmas II rather than Chocolate Bunny Time. Otherwise, I don’t think windfall opportunities for the Mobility are consistently timed enough to locate the day that’s the statistical middle of them.
Any thoughts?
Added: Ben Bernanke’s birthday is in mid-December, but Alan Greenspan’s (March 6) is sitting there right in the late-winter doldrums.
——————————————
[*] Not to be confused with “Love Day” (2004) from Blue’s Clues [**], though I’ve wondered whether that’s a deliberate wink at parents trapped in front of the Tube with their toddlers.
[**] And I never thought I’d say it, but Dora the Explorer makes Blue’s Clues look like Twin Peaks.
9 Comments
Regarding Blue’s Clues, I had this whole theory that Laura Palmer had a secret identical twin sister that was going to turn out to be the killer.
Possible names for the economic stimulus day:
1. “shameless attempt to revive the republicans in the next election” day OR
2. “yes we know we have been telling you to save more money, but now go out and SPEND” day OR
3. “even though every economic adviser with any sense would tell me this is a drop in the bucket and will have little effect, I am increasing our national debt” day.
4. I can’t wait to get my check. It will go half to my church for a pledge I am behind on and half to credit card debt. Exactly ZERO economic stimulus.
Blues Clues jumped the shark when Steve went to college, but yes, even still Dora is a disaster. As for stimulating holidays, it seems like Thanksgiving outperforms its humble roots, forcing everyone to travel en masse to extended families. Maybe a summer version of same?
This year, we have a new holiday in Ontario: Family Day, but the news keeps talking about the economic downside of all the lost productivity, so I suppose it has to be an extra spendy holiday to overcome that.
I bawled like ababy when Steve went to college. Seriously. What the bother is wrong with me. Dora is mind-numbingly boring, but my kids missed her (they are too old). I did have to watch the Teletubbies (whose saving grace was that they were very quiet — no lound banging, crashing, or other jarring noises).
Now I have to work to keep them from Rob and Big and Celebrity Re-hab (which I am kind of letting my 11 year old see — this is what heroin/crack/marijuana withdrawal looks like — I am still debating if this is a good parenting move)
Oh, another name for the economic stimulus day, “I couldn’t start another war but I can hand out checks to make the job harder for the next president” day
Jeremy: Must get the box set (of Twin Peaks)… I’d almost forgotten about the identical twin quasi-sister — she got killed, no?
Laura Beth: All of the above @2, though the stimulus effect under #4 may depend on whether the church spends or saves the money.
Tina: The catch with a travel holiday is the lack of capacity, esp. for air travel — where in my frequent-travel memory airlines have really tried hard to fill in once-soft days on the calendar, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and largely succeeded.
We used to watch Steve Burns before he was Blue’s Clues Steve at Allentown College Theater. He was the best of a really excellent bunch of actors and actresses — a very skilled comedic actor. We were very sad when he graduated (from real college).
I don’t get which show you’re insulting.
That is all.
My original intent was to insult Dora, though I also try to hide when my kids are clamoring for post-Steve Blue’s Clues (including “Love Day”).