Washington, May 11 : Americans are expecting the next president to provide economic relief, but a distinguished University of Mississippi economics professor says that the experience with tax-rebate initiatives indicate that most Americans will save their rebates or use them to pay bills.

William F. Shughart II believes that Americans are paying more for food, fuel, homes and health care.

"The market has to be purged of some of the players who have made bad business decisions," he said.

"The pain has to come at some point, and, once the pain clears, we can get back to business. But keeping bankrupt firms and banks on life support is not going to get it," he adds.

Ken Cyree, interim dean of the School of Business Administration and associate professor of finance, agrees.

"I am not suggesting that things are rosy, but I would argue that it's not like someone said on the news the other day, 'the worst recession since the '70s," he said.

"No president can do much of anything about monetary policy. He can cajole Ben Bernanke (chairman of the Federal Reserve), but the Fed is fairly independent of politics, so whatever policy is being pursued under George Bush will probably continue under the next president," he adds.

What the next president does regarding President Bush's tax cuts will impact taxpayers' pocketbooks, Shughart said?

Candidates for the job of President will be at the University of Mississippi on September 26 for the first presidential debate, which may focus on how they will deal with domestic economic issues. (ANI)