Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"Well, this is sort of economics policy 101 in the sense that we have this plan, usually recommended and sometimes actually enacted, just about every time we've had a slowdown in the economy or a recession. For example, we had tax rebates in 2001.

"Now the idea is pretty simple: If people aren't spending money because they are worried about the economy - if people's income is tight - then what the federal government can do is say, 'Here, here's some more money, and we hope you spend it.' And essentially, where is the federal government getting the money? Well, they are borrowing it. So they are borrowing against the future to give more folks more money now in hopes that they will spend that money.

"Now in 2001 when the federal government did have these tax rebates, research now shows that people did not spend all of the rebate. They spent somewhere between 20 and 30 percent, and they saved the rest or they paid down on debt. Will the tax rebates prevent a recession if that is what we are heading into? No. It didn't in 2001, and it's likely to have the same effect today, but what it will do is make any potential recession less severe."