|
C4C is tough for me to wrap my head around in terms of its short/long term success/failure...
On the success side of things...
1. Thousands of higher mpg cars (relative to what was traded in) are now on the streets and lower mpg cars (all of which were 18 mpg and below) are off the streets.
2. This might be impossible to put a number on but for each car that was traded in the US immediately eliminated "x" gallons of fuel use from our future dependance. If each new car on the road saves an average of "x" gallons of fuel in a year times the number of cars that were traded in then the US reduced our dependence for that many gallons each year (again...tough to measure without the actual numbers but a step in the right direction for sure).
3. The auto industry got a much needed boost over the past few months with thousands of cars leaving their lots for $3500-4500 (plus any additional profit they are making on the sale price of the car, financing, extras, etc).
On the failure side of things...
1. Some (and from I've seen on the lots most) of the clunkers were cars that could have been used for many years to come. Now they are disabled, scrapped, etc and a huge amount of waste was created.
2. Government programs can be great...but they also can be horrible. Time will tell if the C4C program is a success in terms of reducing consumption and stimulating the economy. Perhaps those that got the new cars will drive less for mpg because they think the new car is that much better than the old and the savings are reduced to near nothing in the end. Perhaps new car sales in the US will now grind to a halt and worsen the auto industries current state.
3. We, as in all tax paying citizens of the US, just took on $3 billion more in debt for us and future generations due to C4C. Those that did not participate in the program essentially paid for those that did. Although we already do this on a daily basis with the taxes we pay this program was for cars...and not for something that sustains life like medicine, food, etc.
Only time will tell in all of this...I am hoping this program was a step in the right direction.
|