Comments on: The Return to Depression Era Economics http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/ Blogging about liberty, anarchy, economics and politics Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:07:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Attack the System » Blog Archive » Updated News Digest August 16, 2009 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-8986 Attack the System » Blog Archive » Updated News Digest August 16, 2009 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:42:10 +0000 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/?p=2507#comment-8986 [...] The Return to Depression Era Economics from No Third Solution [...] [...] The Return to Depression Era Economics from No Third Solution [...]

]]> By: nothirdsolution http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-8960 nothirdsolution Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:59:04 +0000 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/?p=2507#comment-8960 The worst parts of the CARS subsidy are twofold: <ol> <li>It is naked corporate welfare at its worst.</li> <li>It provides indirect subsidy primarily to upper-middle class, i.e., those with enough money/credit to buy a brand new car, <em>and</em> with an old clunker laying around to spare.</li> </ol> The worst parts of the CARS subsidy are twofold:

  1. It is naked corporate welfare at its worst.
  2. It provides indirect subsidy primarily to upper-middle class, i.e., those with enough money/credit to buy a brand new car, and with an old clunker laying around to spare.
]]> By: ZJS http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-8959 ZJS Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:48:41 +0000 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/?p=2507#comment-8959 No kidding on the subsidy. Basically anyone not in a financial position to purchase a new car paid $4,500 in taxes for someone else to buy a new car. Wow...I'm so nice! I gave someone $4,500 bucks! Same thing with the housing credit. $8,000 of my tax money b/c I'm not in a financial position to buy a house. I wonder why? Cause I had to pay $8,000 in taxes. No kidding on the subsidy. Basically anyone not in a financial position to purchase a new car paid $4,500 in taxes for someone else to buy a new car. Wow…I'm so nice! I gave someone $4,500 bucks! Same thing with the housing credit. $8,000 of my tax money b/c I'm not in a financial position to buy a house. I wonder why? Cause I had to pay $8,000 in taxes.

]]> By: nothirdsolution http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-8951 nothirdsolution Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:26:59 +0000 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/?p=2507#comment-8951 Cash for clunkers simply effected a time-shift in demand. People bought cars now that they would've otherwise bought in 2010 or 2011. Now, they will not be buying those cars in the future (since they have them now). Furthermore, if you measure "success" by how quickly an initiative can run out of money, then yes, in an Orwellian newspeak sort of way, CARS was a spectacular success. However, <a href="http:\/\/cafehayek.com\/2009\/08\/quiz-for-clunkheads.html" target="_blank">$4500 per clunker was too big a subsidy... you could achieve the same effects with a much smaller amount.</a> As for the cows... It is a coordinated effort to cull a massive amount of cattle with the stated purpose of driving <em>up</em> the price of milk. When OPEC does this, we call it "price fixing". It's no different just because some Corporate-Welfare-Sucking-Factory-Farm is making the decisions. Cash for clunkers simply effected a time-shift in demand. People bought cars now that they would've otherwise bought in 2010 or 2011. Now, they will not be buying those cars in the future (since they have them now). Furthermore, if you measure "success" by how quickly an initiative can run out of money, then yes, in an Orwellian newspeak sort of way, CARS was a spectacular success. However, $4500 per clunker was too big a subsidy… you could achieve the same effects with a much smaller amount.

As for the cows… It is a coordinated effort to cull a massive amount of cattle with the stated purpose of driving up the price of milk. When OPEC does this, we call it "price fixing". It's no different just because some Corporate-Welfare-Sucking-Factory-Farm is making the decisions.

]]> By: sharonsj http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-8949 sharonsj Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:33:22 +0000 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/?p=2507#comment-8949 Cash for Clunkers is not a failure. It was so successful that it ran out of money quickly. In fact, it is the only thing that pushed up economic numbers because consumer spending is dead in the water. The reason farmers are getting rid of cows has nothing to do with price fixing. In fact the price of milk is falling and dairy farmers cannot earn enough to cover expenses--so it doesn't pay them to keep milking those cows. There is a disconnect between what a farmer gets and what consumers pay because of all the middlemen in between. It's another reason why people should buy locally. Cash for Clunkers is not a failure. It was so successful that it ran out of money quickly. In fact, it is the only thing that pushed up economic numbers because consumer spending is dead in the water.

The reason farmers are getting rid of cows has nothing to do with price fixing. In fact the price of milk is falling and dairy farmers cannot earn enough to cover expenses–so it doesn't pay them to keep milking those cows. There is a disconnect between what a farmer gets and what consumers pay because of all the middlemen in between. It's another reason why people should buy locally.

]]> By: Roosevelt’s Ghost | Austro-Athenian Empire http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2009/08/12/the-return-to-depression-era-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-8941 Roosevelt’s Ghost | Austro-Athenian Empire Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:28:10 +0000 http://www.nothirdsolution.com/?p=2507#comment-8941 [...] And now of course he’s back. [...] [...] And now of course he’s back. [...]

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