Stupid Government Tricks

Of the 700,000 vehicles purchased under the program how many would have been purchased anyway without the program....what is the incremental increase in vehicles purchased because of the program? Surely not all 700,000 can be attributed to the program, some of these people would have bought anyway they just got more money for a trade-in than they otherwise would have received.

When I replaced my 25 year old air conditioning compressor for a more efficient model and saw lower electricity bills I cranked down the thermostat by a couple degrees to get a bit more comfort for the same price (and same energy usage) as before.

Missing from all the 'tons of carbon saved' analyses is the assumption that those people who benefitted from Cash for Clunkers may find it affordable to drive more which will eat into or eat up those carbon savings. Maybe they'll take an extra weekend road trip or choose to work further from home.

While the efficiency for most uses of electricity has increased dramatically over the last few decades, we've still managed to increase our per capita electric consumption. In the U.S., the per capita usage from 1990 to 2005 increased by 16%. It's not hard to see why, as these gains in efficiency allow us to build bigger homes, juice more energy-hogging, large flat screen TVs, power our espresso makers, laptops and iPods not to mention the motors and pumps that make the current in the lazy rivers at our local water parks, the projectors in our 30 screen movie theaters and over-the-top holiday light displays. Halloween lights? Really.

Born 145 years too late. Otherwise we would now know this as Seth's Paradox of Marginal Utility. William Stanley Jevons would now be an unknown. But is petroleum demand-supply brittle? Is global demand-supply more rigid than local? Does the paradox still hold for the more flexible moments, the more flexible parameters of the market?

U B Judge
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Could this be a "Stupid Government Trick" or could it be an unconstitutional act of hooliganism?

By eminent domain does the clunker belong to Americans? Have we had our clunkers destroyed by the hooligans? Is this an act of hooliganism by one class of people against the class of people who pay their taxes? Thus own the clunkers? Does this call for a class action law suit? Would you like to be the lead plaintiff?

Call 1-800-WATERBOARD4U

I have a hard time believing that the government will do a better job running the healthcare system when they think that spending at best $237 to remove a ton of CO2 (and probably more per ton) is better than alternatives that can remove a ton of CO2 for $28.

Of course, these are the people who think paying $500 for a hammer is a good deal.

Talking to some of the car dealers, I have come to the conclusion that people who traded in their clunkers will need a bailout 1 year from now. Ain't central planning great?

Don, you spelled "Subsidies for Suckers" wrong.

They are so proud of their unwitting stupidity.

I think they know it is stupid. They just assume that the american public is stupid so they are willing to sell it to the public as being a success.