Food Stamp Program Impact on Resource Use: Texas Compared with The U.S., Fiscal Year 1974

During fiscal year 1974 the National Food Stamp Program disbursed $2.7 billion in bonus stamps. Of this amount, Texas received about $208 million. These money injections will increase each economy's final demand, ceteris paribus. However, an increase in the final demand of low income households will result in a discernibly different pattern of resource allocation than would occur if it came from high income households: the larger the increase in final demand, the greater the impact on patterns of resource use. The amount of bonus stamps distributed has reached a point where impacts may be identifiable. The source of funds likewise affects such expenditure patterns and resulting resource use. For example, when funds for bonus stamps are raised by increasing taxes of the higher income households, their expenditure patterns will reflect their increased tax payments. In contrast, when funds are raised by sale of government securities, the immediate impact will be different, in part because individuals account for only about 16 percent of the ownership of all federal securities.