Comments on: What Cash For Clunkers (CARS) Really Is

By: DD

DD — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:24:13 +0000

I totally agree with you. I made some similar commits on other sites and was surprised that very few people shared these thoughts.

ESPN’s TMQ(otherwise known as Gregg Eaterbrook) wrote last year about how big an impact getting guzzlers off the road would be:

(http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/080909)

The shot to the arm to the auto industry is a bonus in my book(a needed one now that we own most of it).

PS I get a kick out of the cyclical nature of the public’s concern about deficits.
.-= DD´s last blog ..13 Simple Tips To Make Tent Camping Easier And More Fun =-.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:22:55 +0000

Cash for clunkers is a bubble maker. It just shifts future car purchases to the present. So it just screws the auto companies in the future for sales today, in doing so it also screws over auto mechanics (who would have fixed the ‘clunkers’ that have now been destroyed), used car dealers (who now have less inventory to sell), and poor people (who buy used cars, that will now be more expensive because of a lower supply). It’s logic relies on the Broken Window Fallacy.

How about in order to stimulate the economy we burn down New York City and then rebuild it?
.-= Matt´s last blog ..The effects of time =-.

By: fern

fern — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:06:33 +0000

By calling it a “front” and a “cover,” you imply there’s a hidden agenda. I think the goal was: all of the above. What’s wrong with acknowledging the multiple goals of this program?

By: Cars4Charities

Cars4Charities — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:58:15 +0000

Okay, so maybe cash for clunkers is good for the auto industry, new car dealers and the banks. What about its devastating effect on the used car market, auto repair shops, auto parts stores, car donation charities and the poor? Apparently, some industries are more important than others.

By: the weakonomist

the weakonomist — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:47:33 +0000

Gentlemen, the point of the post is to better explain what the program was really designed to do. I say the recession is over because the models used to monitor economic health will reflect an END to the recession in the 3rd quarter (the models are a separate debate). I did not say this is economic recovery, I didn’t even say I thought Cash For Clunkers is the best possible program, but I did say and stand by the fact that it is what we needed.

By: Atlas

Atlas — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:55:19 +0000

WOW, you think this is the program that gets us out of the recession? What happens to the automobile industry next year when they do not have this program? And the used car dealerships? It puts more people in debt and over all it is destructionism? Yes this will stimulate the economy temporally.

I cannot agree more with @My Journey, you of all people—I would not think you would agree with this program.

Also, I don’t know much, but I know the recession is nowhere close to being over, we will not see steady growth in the USA for at least five years, and don’t give me the GDP numbers—it’s distorted by paper money.

my 2 cents
.-= Atlas´s last blog ..The Culture that Spawned the Crisis =-.

By: My Journey

My Journey — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:45:40 +0000

Or lets think about when all those folks who weren’t used to having an auto loan payment, who now do? I am hoping to pick up a sweet 09 or 10 in 2011 or 12 when they are likely to start repoing the cars.

Or lets think about the hurting used car industry, or the hurting auto parts industry?

Or what happens if those massive amounts of people who bought their new car NOW instead of in normal drip streams that the auto industry is used to…abruptly stops?

It is yet another example of gov’t intervention one, which will have TONS of unintended consequences, that I thought The Weak would not be for.
.-= My Journey´s last blog ..Is your Hand Written Will Unenforceable? Does your State Recognize Holographic Wills? =-.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:46:47 +0000

I agree completely, there is nothing GREEN about the CARS rebate program. I do think it will help the auto industry though. I just worry about how we, The American People, are going to pay for all of this when the bill comes due. .-= Kyle´s last blog ..Forget Cash for Clunkers Increase Your MPG =-.