I think of strange things while driving. The topic for the last couple of days was economic recovery. That is strange, because I am not really an economic expert.

In our family, Pam takes care of the finances. I usually have a few dollars in my pocket. Like most guys, I’m not a “go out and go shopping” guy. I usually bring my lunch to work. I don’t drink coffee, so I don’t have to make any trips to get overpriced hot beverages. I rarely drink sodas, so don’t even go to the office soda machine. And the office doesn’t have a snack machine.

So a few dollars in my pocket will last quite a while. In fact, the old joke around here, since Pam handles the finances is that I get to have one check and three deposit slips. When I use up all the deposit slips, I can get another check.

Anyway, what to do to help the nation’s economy?

The solution should be one that stimulates small businesses, since they provide a lot of the economic growth in the country. And it should help people of all all economic strata.

So, I figure that everyone should get $1000 to spend on e-Bay.

eBay sellers should get free listings. Buyers should not pay any extra charges for an item. No commission for e-payments.

Sellers will make more products available, increasing the amount of stuff that they resell. Sellers have to buy things from someone, so that increases sales of businesses.

Buyers get to get something they want, but otherwise wouldn’t have bought. They might even resell things, becoming a seller.

And eBay? They will win also. New sellers and buyers, new traffic for advertising clicks. And probably increased sales, because buyers will probably spend more than their $1000.

The $1000 will be limited to buyers in the US. That’s easy to figure out for the majority of surfers; just check their ISP’s location. Yeah, there will be a few non-US hackers that try to get around the limitation. But there will be non-US buyers looking (and buying) things, and they will have to pay the usual eBay premiums.

And there are a lot of people that don’t have computer access, so some access for those will be needed.

I like the idea. More people buying more things that others are selling that have been made by more people making things.

But I’m no economic expert.