is it possible that the cash for clunkers could be compared to the housing market? ie: people getting loans because of the incentive but cant afford it… hope the banks we gave all that money to dont make the same mistake. just asking
Good question, reocare. But I think one big difference is that the $4,500 rebate makes a fairly significant dent in the cost of a new car, making it affordable for a lot more people.
I think that most banks, still smarting from the recent lending binge, will be reluctant to provide car loans to people who can’t pay them back.
tpenna, are you just guessing at that opinion about banks being reluctant? That would be a major shift as far as I see. I believe they are still willing to allow people to sign contracts they will never be able to fulfill. And I believe lots of people are still eager to live beyond their means.
If the C.A.R.S. program helps to revive the auto industry then it is well worth it, and the critics should allow it to take it’s course. After all, the amount of money being spent is not a scale tipper. To suggest, as some have, that this is tantamount to the government buying automobiles for people is salacious, and a distortion of the facts.
In the newspaper today there was a story about how the Ford Focus has been an early winner in this program with dealers in my region actually running out of inventory of these models. That in and of itself is a bright and welcome bit of news.
Hi secondson. Thanks for your thoughts. Regarding the reluctance of banks to lend money so indiscriminately, it is being borne out now. One of our fellow posters on these pages, for instance, has expressed her frustration at being unable to get an auto loan (LibrarianInTraining).
I am pleased to see the popularity of the Ford Focus in this program. Some folks have pointed out that the other four cars in the top five are Toyotas and Hondas in order to ridicule the notion of an American stimulus. To them, I respond that these four cars are actually manufactured in American plants by American workers.
I’m not sure that the Cash for Clunkers program will necessarily “revive the auto industry”, and I doubt many auto execs think it will. But it is providing stimulus right now, which is good. And it is creating potential long-term return customers, which is also good.
I suspect you’re right, though, about too many Americans thinking they can still live beyond their means. Historian Andrew Bacevich sees in this a distorted definition of freedom that is inordinately tied to consumerism. We can see echoes of this in Bush’s call for Americans to go shopping as a response to the terrorists who allegedly hated us for our freedoms.
reocare almost 15 years ago
is it possible that the cash for clunkers could be compared to the housing market? ie: people getting loans because of the incentive but cant afford it… hope the banks we gave all that money to dont make the same mistake. just asking
tpenna almost 15 years ago
Good question, reocare. But I think one big difference is that the $4,500 rebate makes a fairly significant dent in the cost of a new car, making it affordable for a lot more people.
I think that most banks, still smarting from the recent lending binge, will be reluctant to provide car loans to people who can’t pay them back.
secondson over 14 years ago
tpenna, are you just guessing at that opinion about banks being reluctant? That would be a major shift as far as I see. I believe they are still willing to allow people to sign contracts they will never be able to fulfill. And I believe lots of people are still eager to live beyond their means.
If the C.A.R.S. program helps to revive the auto industry then it is well worth it, and the critics should allow it to take it’s course. After all, the amount of money being spent is not a scale tipper. To suggest, as some have, that this is tantamount to the government buying automobiles for people is salacious, and a distortion of the facts.
In the newspaper today there was a story about how the Ford Focus has been an early winner in this program with dealers in my region actually running out of inventory of these models. That in and of itself is a bright and welcome bit of news.
tpenna over 14 years ago
Hi secondson. Thanks for your thoughts. Regarding the reluctance of banks to lend money so indiscriminately, it is being borne out now. One of our fellow posters on these pages, for instance, has expressed her frustration at being unable to get an auto loan (LibrarianInTraining).
I am pleased to see the popularity of the Ford Focus in this program. Some folks have pointed out that the other four cars in the top five are Toyotas and Hondas in order to ridicule the notion of an American stimulus. To them, I respond that these four cars are actually manufactured in American plants by American workers.
I’m not sure that the Cash for Clunkers program will necessarily “revive the auto industry”, and I doubt many auto execs think it will. But it is providing stimulus right now, which is good. And it is creating potential long-term return customers, which is also good.
tpenna over 14 years ago
I suspect you’re right, though, about too many Americans thinking they can still live beyond their means. Historian Andrew Bacevich sees in this a distorted definition of freedom that is inordinately tied to consumerism. We can see echoes of this in Bush’s call for Americans to go shopping as a response to the terrorists who allegedly hated us for our freedoms.