01 Sep 2009 Another Cash for Clunkers Clunker

Posted at 03:03h in Articles, Blog by

During the Cash for Clunkers program, GM sales dropped 20 percent vs. last year’s and Chrysler’s dropped 15 percent.

Ford sales increased 17 percent.

The reason — aside from the fact that people don’t want to buy from Government Motors — is that GM and Chrysler didn’t have sufficient inventory of the kind of cars that qualified for the program.

So, let’s see here… Government-run companies couldn’t anticipate the demand from a government-run incentive program.

I knew they didn’t understand the free market, but they don’t understand government either.

And if Chrysler and GM didn’t have sufficient inventory for demand, why the heck were the two companies matching the cash for clunkers program with their own incentive program? Why not apply their incentive to the vehicles that didn’t meet Cash for Clunkers’ specifications?

This post was written by David Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at [email protected]. As we occasionally reprint letters, please note if you prefer that correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

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The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.