Why Don’t Politicians Like Poor People?
Last year, Cash for Clunkers was hailed as a success by President Obama: In his radio address on Thursday, President Obama said the program, designed to stimulate auto sales and production and get gas guzzlers off the road, had “been successful beyond anybody’s imagination. And we’re now slightly victims of success because the thing happened .. read more
Are We There Yet?
Dad? Yeah, pal… Are we there yet? No, not yet and stop hitting your sister. The third quarter GDP report last week showed 3.5% growth for the quarter. On Thursday, that was taken as positive evidence that the recession was over and stocks were pushed up over 2%. On Friday, the personal spending numbers reminded .. read more
Barack Hoover Smoot Hawley Obama
From the NY Times, June 28: “At a time when the economy worldwide is still deep in recession and we’ve seen a significant drop in global trade,” Mr. Obama said, “I think we have to be very careful about sending any protectionist signals out there.” WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said .. read more
Cash for Clunkers Can’t Help GM, Chrysler
Even the Cash for Clunkers program wasn’t enough to goose sales at GM and Chrysler (via WSJ): The auto industry temporarily awoke from its slumber last month thanks to the U.S. “cash for clunkers” offer, led by a 17% sales jump at Ford Motor Co. that further highlighted the performance difference between it and Detroit .. read more
Cash for Clunkers Fallout
The cash for clunkers program wasn’t much help to the two wards of the state known as GM and Chrysler (via FT): General Motors and Chrysler sales under the US “cash-for-clunkers” car scrappage incentives fell well below the two Detroit carmakers’ recent market shares, according to the government’s final summary of the scheme, which ended .. read more
A New Foundation for Growth?
In a speech after the release of the employment figures Friday, President Obama said: “Today, we’re pointed in the right direction. While we’ve rescued our economy from catastrophe, we’ve also begun to build a new foundation for growth.” I’m sorry Mr. President, but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. The economy is “recovering”, but the .. read more
Broken Clunkers
The cash for clunkers program is being hailed by politicians as a great success after being sucked dry of money in the first month. It is in fact a stunning display of economic ignorance. As the WSJ points out in an editorial today: Americans are streaming back into auto showrooms, and one reason is the .. read more
