Some wise folks, a couple of states over, have an economic notion so mind-bogglingly simple we’re smacking ourselves for not thinking of it first. (We’d like to think it’s because we think too deeply, so we miss the easy stuff.)

The notion is a grassroots campaign called “Keep it in Vermont.” It asks civic-minded Green Mountain Staters to take their economic stimulus checks, which started arriving last week, and spend them – if they spend them – in Vermont.

It is so smart and simple, it just might work. Here’s why:

Some question whether the grand design of the economic stimulus package will stimulate the economy. With spiraling commodity prices and low consumer confidence, there’s fear much of the $150 billion stimulus will be banked, not spent.

And, for those taxpayers who will spend their rebates, there’s legitimate criticism of spending habits. The running joke about the stimulus package has been it will work wonders for the Chinese economy, since American shoppers will snatch up cheap foreign goods with the money.

In short, it is unclear how the issuance of stimulus checks leads to direct economic improvement. With America’s diverse economy, rising prices, and frightened consumers, how can we be confident the stimulus will work?

Shopping locally, whenever and wherever possible, is the subtle beauty of “Keep it in Vermont.” The easiest method of circumventing concerns about the efficacy of the stimulus package is by having taxpayers inject the funds directly into their local economies.

Obviously, this scenario wouldn’t fit into everyone’s plan for the stimulus money. We all have different needs or wants, which these funds could support. Some of us need to pay debt, or buy some of those cheap goods, or simply stick the money into reserve.

But others, who may lack a designation for the stimulus, could help the policy succeed by “keeping it in Maine.”

For this campaign, those smart Vermont folks built a Web site, www.keepitinvermont.org, with more information, downloadable materials, and a place for Vermonters to pledge how much stimulus they promise to keep in-state.

It is a great idea.

Kudos to them for thinking of it first.