Nostradamus Strikes Again

NOTE: The sole purpose of today’s blog is so that I can brag about my foresight, so skip it unless you are curious…

I wrote this last November, when the surreal specter of propping up the private auto sector had reached a frenzy.  My point was simple: let the consumers get the money and decide.  While the $4500 “Cash for Clunkers” credit is far more generous than the modest $625 I proposed in my hypothetical, and while the ability to buy new foreign cars was more than I’d proposed, it is SOOOOO nice to see an administration in office which thinks rationally.  What I wrote then:

This one is simple, though the relevance to immigration is, uh, vague:

-The government is giving the auto industry $25 billion dollars
-There are about 200 million drivers in the U.S.
-That breaks down to $125 per driver
-Let’s hypothesize that a driver buys a new car every 5 years and forget that many drivers do not own cars
-Multiply $125 by 5 = $625

Instead
of giving the cash to a failing industry, lets offer $625 vouchers
available on a first come first serve basis, with a six month
expiration, only valid for U.S. manufactured vehicles.  The consumer
cuts his/her best deal without divulging the voucher and when they are
ready to sign, the voucher goes to the dealer.

This not only gets
the money in the hands of the consumers, it stimulates demand AND
allows free market dynamics, i.e., the money ends up in the hands of
the U.S. companies which are most attractive to U.S. consumers.

Guys, this isn’t that hard! (-:  Jose

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