Posted on 11/03/2013 8:29:00 PM PST by Olog-hai
When the Obama administration first proposed its “cash for clunkers” plan in 2009, the reaction was generally favorable. Congress would spend $2.85 billion to encourage drivers to swap their old gas guzzlers for newer, more fuel-efficient cars. …
But, as it turns out, the critics were on to something. A new analysis from the Brookings Institution’s Ted Gayer and Emily Parker found that the program was fairly inefficient as economic stimulus and mostly pulled forward auto sales that would have happened anyway. It also cut greenhouse-gas emissions a bit—the equivalent of taking up to 5 million cars off the road for a year—but at a steep cost. …
Gayer and Parker estimate that pulling these vehicle sales forward probably boosted GDP by about $2 billion and created around 2,050 jobs. That means the program cost about $1.4 million per job created—far less effective than other conventional fiscal stimulus measures, such as cutting payroll taxes or boosting unemployment benefits. …
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Cash for clunkers was first and foremost a cultural destruction program.
What, you somehow object to using taxpayer money (i.e. confiscated at threat of gunpoint) to finance the destruction of capital (cars with positive, nonzero market value)? Why, how ever could that be?!
my car has 195,000 miles on it, my husbands 140,000....we always run our cars way up in miles...
so the thought of just destroying perfectly good running cars is blasphemy to me....
we as a society waste so much....
I thought the key words were "reduce" "resuse" and "recyle"... destroying good cars is not good for the enviroment let alone the economy and is just plain stupid and silly...
Every liberal I know thought Cash for Clunkers was brilliant. I also talked to a liberal who was all excited about getting $8,000 to buy a house. Then I told him about the “limits”. His excitement waned.
cash for clunkers didn't create economic activity, it moved economic activity. it compressed it. people bought cars sooner rather than later -- at the expense of later. or they bought cars instead of other major purchases.
It also ended up harming people by raising the price of used cars. More central planning nonsense from DC which did nothing good.
You got a ways to go.. lowest miles on a car in our fleet is 203,000.. highest, 392,000...
Cars last a long.. long.. long time.
Both of our high mile cars qualified for cash for clunkers. One is a V8 powered 3/4 van, the other a large V6 powered SUV..
They won’t be recycled till they are dead.. Both are still going strong on their original untouched power plants and transmissions.
They build them a hell of a lot better now. 100,000 miles is hardly broke in.
Edmunds came up with the conclusion that every incremental vehicle sold cost the taxpayers $24,000.
http://www.edmunds.com/about/press/cash-for-clunkers-results-finally-in-taxpayers-paid-24000-per-vehicle-sold-reports-edmundscom.html
That it did. I can’t find a used car with over 100K for less than $4K these days.
“I’m a recycler”
BINGO! Many cars that don’t run very well and are junked have lots of parts that are just fine and can be re-used. That includes fenders, bumpers, starters, doors, seats, solenoids, etc., etc., etc.
Instead, Mr. “I won” decided on his own to just delete all those cars/parts because his buddies needed a new ride!
Mostly, this program was just a waste by the worst example of an environmentalist that one could ever conjure.
One thing’s for sure: Only in the sick twisted mind of a ‘Rat would pumping up EBT be considered “economic stimulus” and “shovel ready”
Anything that uses Keynesian economic policy is bad policy. It is what failed in the Great Depression and it is failing us now.
Too bad we can’t get rid of more of those old clunkers in congress.
Regarding the title of the article, Democrats probably measure effectiveness of “cash for clunkers” program on how many votes the program is estimated to have bought for Democrats.
increasing food stamps for the past couple years didn’t seem to be much “stimulus”
Think of Obama’s unconstitutional stimulus plan as vote stimulus for Democrats.
“Instead, Mr. “I won” decided on his own to just delete all those cars/parts because his buddies needed a new ride!
Mostly, this program was just a waste by the worst example of an environmentalist that one could ever conjure.”
Not to mention the ticking financial time-bomb of GMAC/ALLY giving New Car loans to Real Credit Criminals (Below 500 credit scores. I know some repo folks making GOOD money chasing these cares right now.
"far less effective than other conventional fiscal stimulus measures, such as cutting payroll taxes or boosting unemployment benefits. …"
Good grief! THIS is what liberals think is "effective"?
MORE people on the dole for LONGER periods of time?
I simply could never be a liberal. My head would explode from the stupidity.
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