# What if everybody won? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 2, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109 "2008-10-02T00:46:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atropa3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Atropa3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atropa3)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/1 "2008-10-02T00:46:24Z")
What if the feds cut a check for one million dollars for every man, woman, and child in the US? It would only cost around 300 million dollars. What would happen? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/2 "2008-10-02T00:47:45Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > What if the feds cut a check for one million dollars for every man, woman, and child in the US? It would only cost around 300 million dollars. What would happen? There are only 300 people in the US? I’m going over there and buy texas! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/3 "2008-10-02T00:48:23Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > There are only 300 people in the US? I’m going over there and buy texas! What does that even mean? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/4 "2008-10-02T00:48:30Z")
Extreme inflation. See Zimbabwe. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/5 "2008-10-02T00:50:18Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > What does that even mean? That the OP can’t multiply. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/6 "2008-10-02T00:51:01Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > What if the feds cut a check for one million dollars for every man, woman, and child in the US? It would only cost around 300 million dollars. What would happen? It would actually cost 260 trillion to cut a check for a million to every man woman and child. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/7 "2008-10-02T00:51:27Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > What does that even mean? 😕 300 million divided by 1 million per person means there are only 300 people. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/8 "2008-10-02T00:53:30Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > 😕 300 million divided by 1 million per person means there are only 300 people. Ah. Gotcha. I was reading it like you wanted to buy 300 million people. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/9 "2008-10-02T00:53:40Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > What if the feds cut a check for one million dollars for every man, woman, and child in the US? It would only cost around 300 million dollars. That’d be _three hundred trillion_, not $300 million. (Fixed math error.) $300 million is roughly one dollar per person. Where the hell would that much money come from? It’s way above the world gross domestic product. Nobody would win, as noted, it’d cause crippling inflation instantly. Maybe you meant $1,000 per person? ---
**Author:** ![Atropa3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Atropa3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atropa3)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/10 "2008-10-02T00:53:50Z")
OK forgive me. What about a similar idea on a smaller scale? ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/11 "2008-10-02T00:55:04Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > OK forgive me. > > What about a similar idea on a smaller scale? They just tried that, and it failed to do much more than throw a cup of water on a burning house. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/12 "2008-10-02T00:55:44Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Ah. Gotcha. I was reading it like you wanted to buy 300 million people. I would, if I wasn’t opposed to slavery 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/13 "2008-10-02T01:05:38Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > I would, if I wasn’t opposed to slavery 😃 That’s where I thought this thread was going! ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/14 "2008-10-02T02:18:13Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > OK forgive me. > > What about a similar idea on a smaller scale? I don’t mean to be too cynical, but the day after, half of the people would have lost their $1,000 (or whatever) because of bad investments - like investing in a three card flush, or investing in an overpriced drink for that cute barfly, or something - and the other half would be $1,000 richer. I see it that if society’s problems were based simply on money (doubtful), it’s still the case that some people aren’t good with money. What to do? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/15 "2008-10-02T02:22:19Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > OK forgive me. > > What about a similar idea on a smaller scale? As already stated, that was basically the economic stimulus package that rolled out earlier this year. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/16 "2008-10-02T02:51:54Z")
> [@RyJae](#): > > They just tried that, and it failed to do much more than throw a cup of water on a burning house. [Kinda like this?](http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/smartaleq/70ba8631.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/17 "2008-10-02T04:56:37Z")
Some guy named Tron would become the richest man in the world after a dice game in Harlem. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/18 "2008-10-02T07:19:10Z")
Too much money distributed with no backing. Sounds great until you pay $1000 for the pizza that just got delivered. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/19 "2008-10-02T07:21:32Z")
> [@Atropa3](#): > > OK forgive me. > > What about a similar idea on a smaller scale? Do you even know what the word “inflation” means? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-everybody-won/466109/20 "2008-10-02T07:53:53Z")
It’s called an Economic Stimulus Package these days.