NY mall tries cash handouts to stave off recession

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York shopping mall is doing its part to stimulate the struggling U.S. economy by giving away $20,000 in cash to unsuspecting passers-by, hoping that handing out $50 bills will boost consumer confidence.

People dressed as Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty started handing out $1 bills around the borough of Queens earlier in the week, then began shelling out $50 bills at the Atlas Park shopping center on Friday.

Recipients are asked to spend or invest the money and told that if people have confidence in the economy it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The handouts will continue for two months until reaching $20,000, equivalent to $0.05 per square foot of retail space.

The mall owners say the private-sector effort will "supplement" the $168 billion stimulus package signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on February 13.

Atlas Park owner Damon Hemmerdinger noted that tax rebates in the stimulus plan won't reach consumers for months.

"It (the stimulus package) is important and I'm not at all critical of it, but I'm watching layoffs and bankruptcies and pain and suffering," Hemmerdinger said. "That's not enough. We shouldn't wait for anybody else to solve our problems."

Hemmerdinger estimated that if every shopping center in the country gave away cash using the same formula it would pump $340 million back into the sagging economy.

One economist, while acknowledging the giveaway may not have much impact on the $13 trillion U.S. economy, but said the gesture could boost consumer confidence.

"It moves us in the right direction," said Frank Tinari, professor emeritus at Seton Hall University. "It's taking money out of savings or profits and pumping it back into the economy."

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Stuart Grudgings)