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American Morning

More Than $3 Billion Worth of Tax Checks in Mail Today

Aired August 03, 2001 - 11:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: More than $3 billion worth of tax checks are in the mail today, on their way to American taxpayers, but many Americans may not realize just where this money is coming from and what it will mean for them on next April 15th.

So to clear up the confusion, we turn to CNN's Brooks Jackson.

Brooks, good morning once again.

What will people be doing with this money?

BROOKS JACKSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What are people doing with this money? Leon, that's an interesting question, because we've taken polls of course. Gallup polls shows only 17 percent of people polled say actually going to spend this money, more people will save it, they're going to pay bills with it, that sort of thing. Economists are not buying it, however. What people tell pollsters they are going to do that when actually end up doing different things, economists are figuring more than half, or roughly half of people getting this money will spend it, and the good part of that is that's expected to increase the economy. Economic growth, somewhere on the order half a point, which is pretty good, since we only had half a point the last quarter. So that's going to be $38 billion, some substantial fraction of it pouring into the economy in the last three months, the next three months between now and the end -- beginning of October.

HARRIS: All right, thanks, Brooks Jackson in Washington, we appreciate that.

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