(WSJ) [E]conomists Atif Mian of the University of California Berkeley and Amir Sufi of the University of Chicago have examined “cash for clunkers,” the $2.85 billion program that subsidized consumers to buy new cars and destroy older ones. Their conclusion: The program “had no long run effect on auto purchases.” It did juice sales during its two-month run last summer, by about 360,000 cars, but then it quickly hurt sales by about the same amount, in effect stealing purchases from the future. The program was a wash in a mere seven months. White House economists might dismiss that finding because their larger goal with cash for clunkers was to stimulate “aggregate demand” in the overall economy. Earlier this year, Christina Romer, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, wrote that cash for clunkers was an example of “very nearly the best possible countercylical fiscal policy in an economy suffering from temporarily low aggregate demand.” Oh, who cares anymore. It was only $3 billion. Nothing like the big tril-and-a-half wrapped in a bow.. No stats yet on the number of defaulted car loans coming directly out of Obama’s CFC..
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Another “It’s Official” – Cash For Clunkers was Crap, Caca, Canadian Bacon …
RedState Morning Briefing For September 3, 2010 Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge. 1. Pulling the Plug in Delaware: The Liberty.com and Christine O’Donnell Matter 2. Jane Norton for Governor 3. Rick Scott (R CAND, FL-GOV) picks Jennifer Carroll for Lt. Gov spot. 4. Blood Money 5. Christina Romer Hits The Silk 6. Rep. Phil Hare is Starting to Panic ———————————————————————- 1. Pulling the Plug in Delaware: The Liberty.com and Christine O’Donnell Matter I would rather die a thousand times over via crushing by an anaconda while being torn limb from limb by a jaguar than see Mike Castle in the Senate. I would rather be slowly run over by a road roller while listening to Janeane Garofalo dialogue from The Truth About Cats and Dogs than see Mike Castle in the Senate. I’d rather see the Democrat get elected than see Mike Castle get elected. Seriously, I know many of you disagree with me, but if the majority depends on Mike Castle, to hell with the majority. But I’m moving on from Delaware. The Tea Party Express has a poll coming out showing the race within 5 points. I wish Christine O’Donnell the best. I’d rather her than Castle. But I’m moving on. If Christine O’Donnell wins it’ll be inspite of the help she has gotten. What has ultimately set me off is the “Mike Castle is gay” stuff, which is nothing more than the Will Folks hour come to Delaware. The failure of the O’Donnell campaign to deal swiftly with this tells me all I need to know. Please click here for the rest of the post. 2. Jane Norton for Governor Dan Maes needs to disappear. If he is considering it, I want to publicly encourage him. I met Dan Maes. When I was in Colorado earlier this year, Maes wanted to meet and asked for mine and RedState’s support. Very few of my friends in Colorado — the same people supporting Buck by and large — thought that would be wise. We see why. Maes was not ready for prime time. He’s a genuinely nice guy. I liked him immediately. But the Maes campaign is amateur hour. There is a lot riding on strong GOP turnout in November in Colorado. We have a chance to shift that state back toward us. But Maes is not the guy to lead that shift. His remaining at the top of the ballot jeopardizes the GOP down ballot. His remaining on the ballot jeopardizes turnout for Ken Buck. Through the Colorado Senate primary I heard over and over from Buck supporters how much they wished Jane Norton were running for Governor. As a former Lt. Governor in the state, she has great executive experience. I’d gladly support her for the job. Please click here for the rest of the post. 3. Rick Scott (R CAND, FL-GOV) picks Jennifer Carroll for Lt. Gov spot. It’s a good choice on a variety of levels: Jennifer is a small businesswoman, twenty-year military veteran, state legislator, NRA member, Jeb Bush appointee… and, possibly most importantly, a Bill McCollum supporter. Jennifer was actually on Crist’s short list for a Senate appointment last year; for that matter, she was apparently even considered for the Lt. Gov position four years ago; all of which should help in the awkwardness that is the Senate and Governor’s races in Florida. On the issues: conservative, with what appears to be on first glance no major problems. She’s a great balance for Rick Scott, in other words, and a definite asset to the ticket. Please click here for the rest of the post. 4. Blood Money Imagine if you couldn’t speak for yourself, and there was no one to tell your story for you. Well, now there is. Please click here for the rest of the post. 5. Christina Romer Hits The Silk The other day the chairman of Obama’s sublimely misnamed Council of Economic Advisers got the hell out of Dodge. In an earlier, more genteel day a cosmic failure like Christina Romer would have packed her Prius after dark and been hours out of town before the light of day. This, however, is the Age of Testimony and Validation. So Romer left after a luncheon at the National Press Club. I’ll let Dana Milbank pick up the narrative. Please click here for the rest of the post. 6. Rep. Phil Hare is Starting to Panic A few months ago, Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL) was an obscure backbench Democrat in a safe House seat, in the president’s home state. With each passing day, however, it becomes clearer and clearer that his big government voting record and apathy toward the Constitution has led to a real race. Please click here for the rest of the post.
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Morning Briefing for September 3, 2010
Yesterday the chairman of Obama’s sublimely misnamed Council of Economic Advisers got the hell out of Dodge. In an earlier, more genteel day a cosmic failure like Christina Romer would have packed her Prius after dark and been hours out of town before the light of day. This, however, is the Age of Testimony and Validation. So Romer left after a luncheon at the National Press Club. I’ll let Dana Milbank pick up the narrative : Lunch at the National Press Club on Wednesday caused some serious indigestion. It wasn’t the food; it was the entertainment. Christina Romer, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, was giving what was billed as her “valedictory” before she returns to teach at Berkeley, and she used the swan song to establish four points, each more unnerving than the last: She had no idea how bad the economic collapse would be. She still doesn’t understand exactly why it was so bad. The response to the collapse was inadequate. And she doesn’t have much of an idea about how to fix things. What she did have was a binder full of scary descriptions and warnings, offered with a perma-smile and singsong delivery: “Terrible recession. . . . Incredibly searing. . . . Dramatically below trend. . . . Suffering terribly. . . . Risk of making high unemployment permanent. . . . Economic nightmare.” I suppose we should give Romer points for candor. It takes a really big person to walk away from what should be the culminating role of a career, scratching their backside and muttering. And to do it in front of the national press corps. It is also a fitting end to the Summer of Recovery . Unfortunately, it also shows the White House is, as pilots say, out of altitude, out of airspeed, and out of ideas. Philosophically they will neither cut taxes nor spending nor roll back business killing regulations. Politically they will not be able to convince the Democrat caucus in the House and Senate to fund a new round of stimulus spending. So as the world’s largest economy circles the bowl enroute to subsidizing a green job somewhere, Obama’s chief economic adviser shrugs her shoulders and essentially quotes Otter of “Animal House” on the way out.
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Christina Romer Hits The Silk
Christina Romer, the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers becomes the first high-profile rodent to leave the foundering economic ship that is Obama’s “fundamentally transformed” America. Apparently Romer took a lesson from the little guy at the bottom of this picture . Romer, whose best known work before taking the Obama Administration job is probably a paper she wrote with her husband arguing that tax rate hikes are extremely negative for economic growth, then came to DC and all but wrote the horrendously wasteful “stimulus” plan and co-authored a paper with Jared Bernstein saying that unemployment would stay below 8 percent if the “stimulus” passed, with this visual representation of their prediction: Of course, unemployment is now well above the “without recovery plan” line, though sputtering Keynesians who apparently have never learned a single lesson from economic history still say “it would have been so much worse if we hadn’t incinerated a trillion dollars of your children’s money.” (Well, they don’t say it exactly like that…) To be fair to Romer, her paper argues that tax hikes are extremely negative unless they are perceived as being put in place in order to reduce a big budget deficit. The problem with her argument in today’s application is that she assumes credit markets will see tax hikes as actually cutting the deficit, which would indeed be a long-term positive. But with a government which shows absolutely no interest in cutting spending, which has made it clear that any new tax revenue will be used to increase spending (public union vote buying to be precise) even further rather than to cut the deficit, Romer’s caveat becomes meaningless. However, within her happy little world in which there is a shred of fiscal responsibility in our federal government, it is then consistent with her framework to argue for spending a trillion dollars. After all, that money would massively increase the deficit and then allow her to argue for those painless tax hikes. Speaking of hikes, I’m pleased to see Christina Romer take one. The questions now become which species of ground-dwelling mammal will replace her and which will be the next to flee the Obama ship of state as it takes on water at a record pace.
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Jumping Ship
Today on the Main Site: A Losing Proposition by W. James Antle, III: Contrary to the decision overturning Proposition 8, all Americans have standing in the marriage debate. Obama Cripples Ford’s Funding, Then Subsidizes It by John Berlau & Andrew Kwiatkowski: Ronald Reagan had Obama figured out years ago. A Coup for the FCC by The Prowler: Unfortunately, it’s of the leftist Obamaite, regulate the Internet by fiat persuasion. Mysteries of Economics by Ben Stein: There’s gold in them thar hills. Starving ObamaCare by Philip Klein: Could a new GOP majority win a government shutdown battle over defunding the national health care law? From our July-August issue. The Taliban’s BFF by George H. Wittman: The U.S. well knows that the Taliban and elements in Pakistan will remain best friends forever. Cherokee Nation by James P. Gannon: How can a Jeep TV commercial make more sense than America’s economic policy? A-Rod’s 600th (Yawn) by Andrew Cline: Why the fans don’t really care. What to Watch for: Lockerbie release flawed (WSJ)
