This is why colleges split economics into micro and macro. Unless your name is Madoff, your individual impact on the economy is negligible. You can't spend us out of Depression 2.0 all by your lonesome. Buy the Jet Ski; don't buy the Jet Ski. Whatever.rnIt's only when everyone decides to put off buying a Jet Ski-a reduction in aggregate demand-that things get dicey. When we all stop spending, the economy collapses, and theoretically, without a massive Keynes-ian infusion of government dollars, it's just you and the zombies. Now, if you used the Jet Ski money to pay down debt, that might at least help in the long run. The economy needs financially stable households more than it needs over-leveraged spend-rnthrifts. "Saving is essential for eco-rnnomic growth," says Sam Allgood,rnan economist at the University ofrnNebraska-Lincoln. "The money wernsave and invest is used by businessesrnto expand, update, or just get started."rnNot glamorous enough? Try uppingrnyour charitable donations, the mostrnexpeditious way of chipping in.
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