Paying down your own debt frees up credit for someone else to borrow. As banks lend out what depositors put in, saving money in a bank does as much good for the economy as spending it, but it is still yours! As far as injecting liquidity goes, saving money in the bank is having your cake and eating it, too.

The US government isn’t paying down debt and has no savings so it will try to fund the bailout by borrowing even more money, in a tight credit market.