That's a great idea. I caught the tail end of a segment on NPR radio a month or two back. It was an interview with a behavioral economist, I think that's what he called the field. Anyway, he was saying that there are better ways to distribute a stimulus package than simply sending everyone a check. A check that is deposited into your bank account is likely to go straight to pay down some outstanding credit card balance or go straight to savings, which provides no/very little stimulatory effect on the economy in the short term.

The economist said that other methods, like sending everyone a "gift" card with the same amount as these stimulus checks, would be far more likely to be spent for new goods or services and thereby give the economy its needed boost. Since consumer spending is about two-thirds of GDP, the guest suggested that it would be money well spent if the gov't would actually set aside a bit of the stimulus package to fund research on better, more innovative ways of delivering this stimulus money. Try to find out how to get the most bang for the buck, so to speak.