I think it was Conan O’Brien who joked that Cash for Clunkers was a great program that stimulated the economy, except that it stimulated the wrong economy…..in Japan. Well, another journalist-turned-social-engineer in Business Week has determined that since Cash for Clunkers didn’t work…..well, he didn’t exactly say that…..he said this:
Cash for Clunkers provided a sizable boost to U.S. vehicle sales amid a major economic downturn. There’s a reasonable case that the program’s timing did create enough demand to stem some of the economy’s downward momentum during the summer.
So now, to really stimulate the auto industry, he said it’s time to raise federal gas taxes — a novel and brilliant idea that has never before been brought up! Raise the taxes, he says, to get all clunkers off the road and bring salvation to Detroit. If we raise the taxes high enough, that’ll force people to junk their current cars and buy new, fuel-efficient cars. Wow, what a great idea! Force folks to buy new cars and take on debt they can’t afford to pay back. Forget the Depression. Forget the escalating unemployment rate. Forget consumer debt problems. Forget that people are broke and it’ll take years to recover. Tax, tax, buy, buy. Says this clever journalist: “It’s time for the industry to wake up and smell the exhaust fumes.” (How did that statement make it to print?) He’d like to see a $2.00+ per gallon tax. But what about all those people who can’t afford a car payment? Well, our journalist has that problem solved.
The federal government could offset the hardship with a low-income tax credit. Local entrepreneurs will find a way to offer low-cost transportation, much as is the case in many immigrant neighborhoods in major urban areas. However, the real change will come with time as a higher gas tax stimulates additional investment in public transportation.
This cretin also appears on NPR’s Marketplace as an individual who is knowledgeable of finance and markets. In fact, he’s so keen on all things financial that he wrote an article, in March 2006, called Let the Good Times Roll. He stated that we were in for a long-term boom period and cheered on the “hot” economy. As we know, these writers who rode the backs of the boom, cheering it on in all its glory, are never discredited after their years of writings are proven to be error-filled, useless cheerleading spectacles aimed at propping up the establishment and riding the popularity wave. This isn’t journalism — this is trying to hold onto your job while ignoring the supposed principles of your profession. When I saw in his bio that he had a “Smart Money” column series for Business Week, I looked at those archives. Funny, the guy hasn’t published a column in that series since June 2007, just about the time that signs of the financial meltdown were apparent, and just when these know-nothing cheerleaders had all the wind removed from their bullish sails.
