Update | 11:56 a.m., December 16: Updated to include new plans from Claudia Goldin, Ann Dryden Witte, Edward L. Glaeser, Nancy Folbre, Laura Tyson, Lori Kletzer and Len Burman, and an update to the plan from Raj Chetty.

President-elect Barack Obama and members of Congress are considering a fiscal stimulus package that’s reportedly in the ballpark of $500 billion. How should that money be spent?

We asked a group of economists how they would use the money if they had their druthers. For simplicity’s sake, we gave them the condition that they had to use every penny of the $500 billion on government spending or tax cuts or both. A collection of their responses is below. If you think you have a better plan, leave it...  full article