Cash for Clunkers - Good or Bad Idea?

4110 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 11:42 AM

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What is this discussion about? Legislation, Truck, Sedan, Wagon, SUV

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#4064 of 4110 Re: Rewarded the jerks for driving huge gass suckers [gagrice] by kdhspyder Nov 09, 2009 (4:50 pm)
Replying to: gagrice (Nov 09, 2009 4:22 pm) There are whole segments of the US industrial base that are jumping for joy that the US$ is tanking. Since summer everything made here is 10-20% less costly in the world markets. OTOH if the seller doesn't discount the sales price of an exported commodity then the fall in the US$ is pure profit when sold overseas. In addition to you and me it has little or any effect unless we buy imported goods like Prius' and French wine or any consumer good made in the Far East. Maybe..maybe down the road this might heat up inflation but there's no sign of that now. The Fed however says it has inflation dead in its sights. At the first sign....BLAM. Worry, worry, worry... Replies to this message: berri (Nov 09, 2009 5:59 pm) kdhspyder (Nov 09, 2009 6:48 pm)
#4065 of 4110 Re: Rewarded the jerks for driving huge gass suckers [kdhspyder] by berri Nov 09, 2009 (5:59 pm)
Replying to: kdhspyder (Nov 09, 2009 4:50 pm) In addition to you and me it has little or any effect unless we buy imported goods Wait a minute, it is affecting all of us with ever escalating commodity prices. Its the exact reason oil prices are so high despite the market currently being awash in supply. A cheap dollar may give Cat or Deere an overseas sales lift, but concurrently it drives up materials cost adversely affecting cost of goods sold and gross margin. Its a mixed blessing for them. Instable raw material costs is a major problem for manufacturers and their vendors. The Fed however says it has inflation dead in its sights I believe this is true, but how many times does government or industry get timing right? Also, as our industrial base shrinks more of the products we consume are imported potentially increasing consumer impact from a sinking dollar. I'm afraid that when the government means well and puts too much of their hands into things it too often turns out the medicine becomes worse than the illness. I don't doubt that the initial stimulus were necessary since presidents from both parties and their repective cabinets supported them. However you can't keep opening the spigot without eventually creating a flood. Replies to this message: kdhspyder (Nov 09, 2009 6:48 pm)
#4066 of 4110 Re: Rewarded the jerks for driving huge gass suckers [gagrice] by plekto Nov 09, 2009 (6:40 pm)
Replying to: gagrice (Nov 09, 2009 4:22 pm) That government data/chart, though, doesn't include a dime spent on the Iraq/Afghanistan wars by Bush. If you add it in, it looks just as bad as Obama, or close to it. We're so far in debt that it's going to collapse unless a miracle happens. Today's debt clock just crossed 12 trillion dollars. The GDP of the U.S. is 13.84 Trillion dollars. When the debt becomes more than a year's GDP, credit ratings and value for that nation's currency will plummet. Expect very bad things next year as a result.
#4067 of 4110 Re: Rewarded the jerks for driving huge gass suckers [berri] by kdhspyder Nov 09, 2009 (6:48 pm)
Replying to: berri (Nov 09, 2009 5:59 pm) But it also employs more Americans. US manufacturers and exporters are able to do more business and thus hire more workers. I agree that like everything there's a limit. It's only in the last year that the US$ has crumbled. At the beginning of 2008 it was ~105Y : $1....then it fell to under 90 then recovered to 100 again now it's back at 90. Since this is an auto site, the US makers love the fact that imports are penalized 15% since last year. More money for them.
#4073 of 4110 housekeeping by steve_ HOST Nov 10, 2009 (11:11 am)
The thread is getting a bit far afield from clunkers so the more recent posts have been moved to the Off Topic Chatter board: bpraxis, "Forget Bushisms, Biden Gaffes, We have Obama blunders" #740, 9 Nov 2009 10:44 pm