# The Economy & WTC -- A Solution **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 15, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761 "2001-09-15T03:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jonfromdenver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/1 "2001-09-15T03:59:41Z")
i don’t want to take false credit for this, as it was actually the idea of an acquaintance of my father’s, but this is a really interesting idea. what if, when the stock markets opened on monday, everyone in the country bought just one share? would that be enough to boost our economy? how could we get people to do this? is this a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/2 "2001-09-15T06:12:06Z")
Our economy is not based on the stock market. The stock market is an indicator of the perceived future value of various companies. The economy grows when production increases (as indicated by the GDP). A recession is indicated by a period of zero or negative real GDP. So to answer your question, no. Each person buying a share of stock will not help the economy. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/3 "2001-09-15T20:23:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jonfromdenver \* > \*\*i don’t want to take false credit for this, as it was actually the idea of an acquaintance of my father’s, but this is a really interesting idea. what if, when the stock markets opened on monday, everyone in the country bought just one share? \*\* One share of what? ---
**Author:** ![jonfromdenver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/4 "2001-09-15T21:05:15Z")
KellyM, one share of any stock they wish. msmith537, i know that a recession is measured by GDP, but just as the GDP affects the stock market, can’t the stock market affect the GDP? you said the stock market is a perception of future values of companies, and if everyone bought into the companies, wouldn’t the actual future values of the company go up? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/5 "2001-09-15T21:13:02Z")
There are ~240 MM people in the United States. The NYSE and the NASDAQ _each_ do that volume before 11:00 each morning. So the answer is no. All you’d have is a bunch people owning one share of a stock that they bought at the offered price on Monday morning. Now here’s the bigger question. What if Americans suddenly changed from net spenders to net savers? In other words, if they actually consumed less than they earn, instead of vice versa. In the short run, it would almost certainly mean a long, nasty recession, since it’s consumer spending and home buying that are barely keeping the econony out of recession now. But over the longer run, the increased supply of capital would probably make for more innovation and thus economic growth. ---
**Author:** ![jonfromdenver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/6 "2001-09-16T04:15:04Z")
watching the news tonight, i saw financial experts urging people to buy stock. some people are even announcing their plans to buy large amounts of stock, such as at this [site](http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/invest/extra/7853.asp?special=msn). are these people stupid? are financial experts aware that this will do nothing, as i have read here? ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/7 "2001-09-16T04:26:33Z")
This isn’t a serious proposal, but just wondering. Since it’s consumer spending that keeps the economy running, what if everyone went out Monday and bought something they normally wouldn’t, with a minimum value of around $10 - $20. Would that do the trick? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/8 "2001-09-21T01:34:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jonfromdenver \* > if everyone bought into the companies [stock], wouldn’t the actual future values of the company go up? \*\* No. Take the dot-coms for example. The stock price was driven up to unreasonable levels. There was no way that earnings would ever catch up. The stock market is only relevent if you have invested in a stock. The most important thing needed to keep a company healthy is to maintain a positive cash flow. As long as it does that, fluctuations in the market don’t matter that much. Kind of a simplification, but you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economy-wtc-a-solution/81761/9 "2001-09-21T02:41:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fugazi \* > \*\*Since it’s consumer spending that keeps the economy running, what if everyone went out Monday and bought something they normally wouldn’t, with a minimum value of around $10 - $20. Would that do the trick? \*\* Our GDP is around $6 trillion per year. One $10 purchase per person is somewhat short of $3 billion, or less than 1/2000th of the GDP. Drop in the bucket.