Cash for Clunkers shuts down

Posted on August 21st, 2009 by ecthompson md

Classic 1971 Monte Carlo which sold for over $60,000, Not a clunker

The White House has announced that the Cash for Clunkers program will end on Monday. I’m not sure why this program has garnered the scorn from conservatives that it has. This may be government at its best. This was a limited intervention that cost a relatively small amount of money ($3 billion) and it had a huge impact. Auto car sales have clearly jumped as result of this program. This has helped stimulate an ailing industry. 457,000 cars a been sold so far through this program.

Actually, there’s another reason for conservatives to shout with joy. This isn’t one of those government programs that get perpetuated over and over and over again. Instead, this program is shutting down as designed. Infuse capital. Stimulate the economy. Close the program and see the effects of the stimulus.

As with any government program Cash for Clunkers had politics associated with it also. It seems that there needed to be a considerable number of discussion about the definition of a “clunker.” Some car dealers, who sell classic cars, didn’t want their cars caught up in the clunker hysteria. In a democracy there’s always a give and take.

Tags: Economy, Obama administration // 2 Comments »

  • margaret

    To me the lending institutions really won out. I hope the car companies made alot of the loans. How much would you say the average loan would be? I guess most cars people were buying were on average 15,000 dollars after the rebates. That means people financed roughly $6,855,000,000 for however much the interest rate is for about 4 years. That is alot of money the people have decided to invest on their own. I hope the money is well spent by whichever institute gets it. If the car manufacturers loaned it then it should help speed up the conversion better economical cars and trucks. I say good luck to everyone who decided to stick their necks out on a car payment when the future is uncertain. BRAVO

  • http://www.whereistheoutrage.net ecthompson

    I think that this is part of the “halo” effect. 457,000 cars is something.

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