Food Stamps Stimulate The Economy?
“Each $5 dollars in new SNAP benefits generates almost twice that amount in economic activity for the community,” reads a government pamphlet posted by the Weekly Standard (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the new name created by the 2008 Farm Bill for the food stamps program). “Everyone wins when eligible people take advantage of benefits to which they are entitled.”
Everybody wins, except those who have to pay for the food stamps. Somehow, they get left out of the equation.
That really is the calculus being done here. They refer to the commerce created when the food stamps are spent, but they don’t mention at all the commerce destroyed when money is taken from taxpayers to pay for those food stamps.
And why are we promoting food stamps use? Food stamps are supposed to be a safety net, not an entitlement program.
The full pamphlet is below.
