>I think the reverse is true. People tend to see the stimulus as an
>abstract "economic issue" - as in, will it be "good for the
>economy"? They don't tend to think primarily about whether it will
>benefit them personally. I think that's actually a symptom of the
>hegemony of the right: Most people don't see public programs as
>benefiting them, and when they do perceive a benefit (as with Social
>Security or Medicare) they refuse to place it in the mental category
>of "government spending."
>The Quinnipiac Poll of states has been asking people whether they
>think the stimulus will benefit them personally. There seems to be
>little relationship between support for the bill and expectation of
>personal benefit:
>
>>Pennsylvania: Voters support 54 - 37 percent President Obama's
>>Economic Stimulus Package, but say 61 - 34 percent that the
>>stimulus plan will not help them personally, the independent
>>Quinnipiac (KWIN uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
Objectively, most of those who don't think it will help them personally, are correct. If you can keep your job while all about you are losing theirs, you will have relatively more spending power. Most people in a recession do retain their job, though the market price of their wages tend to decline. But assuming the recession doesn't go on forever, that will take time to take effect. Depends on inflation. If there is deflation, employers have to actually cut nominal wages, which is very difficult.
Prices are held down because overall there is a reduction in incomes, so the people who keep their jobs through the recession might actually be better off for it. And of course most people will keep their jobs and even more people expect to keep their jobs, because we all tend to have a high opinion of how indispensable we are.
My interpretation of these results are thus that the majority of people favour action to prop up the economy, even though they don't expect it to benefit them personally. (In fact it is contrary to their narrow self-interest.) But they are in favour because they believe it is in the interests of other people, even at some cost to their narrow self-interest.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas