instingts is not to take it to the bank, flip it over and get the money back in cash and spend it immediately. some people might do that. overall, most people, the instinct will be to deposit the check and not spend all of it at once. in terms of the whole economy, the point of doing the stimulus is you want people to spend the money you're sending them. you want them to spend all of it or as much of it as possible. saving may help you as an individual, but it does not help an economy in need of stimulus. you want spending. rather than sending everybody a lump sum check, a much better way to stimulate the economy is to give people money in way that doesn't encourage them to save it. give them money that doesn't make much of a splash. just put 20, 30 or 40 bucks in their paycheck every week. you're likely to spend 20 or 30 or 40 more bucks than you would