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You can. It's called a DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Program). Most of the large companies offer such programs.

Do you have to be an employee of the company to do this? And, if it's dividend re-investment, don't you have to own the stock in the first place?

I don't have credit card debt. Isn't all that profit from banks and CC companies on paper? Where are the "real" assets for these companies? Isn't that what caused the debacle of the 1999? No real assets. When paper gets pushed around too much it becomes worthless.

I don't think it can be stopped. Are we not now encouraged by all to "spend" our way out of trouble? How can we do that when we have nothing to spend?

"Do you have to be an employee of the company to do this? And, if it's dividend re-investment, don't you have to own the stock in the first place?"

No, these plans are open to the public. Sometimes you do have to own a single share but there are a number of clubs where folks will sell you that share to get you started. Other companies will sell you that first share. Do some research on the web.

"I don't have credit card debt. Isn't all that profit from banks and CC companies on paper? Where are the "real" assets for these companies? Isn't that what caused the debacle of the 1999? No real assets. When paper gets pushed around too much it becomes worthless."

Most profits are on paper. And, no, I do not wish to see the gold standard.

"I don't think it can be stopped. Are we not now encouraged by all to "spend" our way out of trouble? How can we do that when we have nothing to spend?"

Work harder and have more to spend.

"I don't have credit card debt. Isn't all that profit from banks and CC companies on paper? Where are the "real" assets for these companies? Isn't that what caused the debacle of the 1999? No real assets. When paper gets pushed around too much it becomes worthless."

I'm sorry, I should have spent more time replying earlier. It's a good thing you have no credit card debt. When I lost my job in '94, that was one of the things that saved me.

The "real assets" of most corporations are now their people and their knowledge. When these corporations can no longer effectively employ those assets they let those people go. Very similar to an old time "bricks and mortar" corporation. When they could no longer effectively use a factory, they sold it. It's tough, but no tougher than it was for those who worked in those factories.

The cause of the dotcom crash was overinvestment. Too much money reaching a point where it could no longer be efficiently employed.

"I don't think it can be stopped. Are we not now encouraged by all to "spend" our way out of trouble? How can we do that when we have nothing to spend?"

Spending your way out of a recession is pure Keynesian economics. I'm not in that camp.