Cash For Clunkers Was An Amazing Success!

The little graph there... looks like the beginning of a heart-beat blip to me. Sure I see a peak, but the line is aiming down. What do you suppose the future holds for this graph? Like I said the first time the "success" claim was made...

I don't know what good this will do in the long run. It's like a tapped well (oil or water)... you've got the whole neighborhood sucking on the tit, figuratively speaking. It'll take time to replenish the goods... ya know what I mean?
Granted there were many sales in the short span of the program, but I doubt there will be any more for quite some time. Everybody that was serious and/or capable already bought their car. The remainder of those who are able will likely have that, "I missed out" feeling that will further hinder a future sale at least until that wares off. Some months from now, the only thing indicating the "Cash for Clunkers" happened will be a spike and the reactive dip in our little car-sales line graph. The market has a momentum behind it. Ya pedal hard up the hill, you'll get tired faster, end up coasting longer, and likely make it up the hill at the same time as the rest - if not behind the guy pacing himself. The Quick-fix spurt only works in the short-race, not the marathon. Analogies are fun aren't they?
They're like from Yoda, Mr. Miyagi, or some Native-American wise man that can morph into a hawk in his free time. They (analogies) do, however, fall short in cheese compared to puns - which saddens me.
#30 | Posted by R0B0T at 2009-08-24 04:58 PM |

Robot,
I agree about the pifall in demand after the program ends. I plan on waiting a month or two and getting $4,500 off the sticker price by negotiating.
Your analogy seems to argue against any stimulas at all - helping in the ST, but bad for LT. I believe stimulas is needed in bad times, just like higher interest rates are needed in the boom times to try and flatten the hills and valleys.
#32 | Posted by BenFranklinn

Perhaps this analogy better fits the bill... Think of a dam holding back water. You open the flood gates to limit the water that can pass through into the valley. Manipulating the interest rates is as though you close the gates some in order to allow the water to back-build while we wait for the rain. In better times, it's as you say - you open 'em up so the dam doesn't break. I see these stimuli as not regulating the flow, but magically creating the rain. However, there's no such thing as magic is there? The reality is they're trucking in the "rain" from China and we tax payers are the ones assigned to dumping the water into the river one bucket at a time... like slaves.

The clunkers program is an illusion. It suits the previous bike pedaling scenario just fine. Nothing happened.

Posted by R0B0T