Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Russ Roberts' Clunker Quiz

This is really all you need to know about the government's stupid Cash for Clunkers program. GMU Economics professor Russ Roberts shows how easy this blogging thing must be for a true professional. See here.

Imagine you’re a member of Congress. You’re a fan of the Cash for Clunkers program. You discover that the $1 billion that Congress budgeted for the program has been spent in FOUR DAYS. The program is now out of money. What do you do?

A. Realize that $4500 per clunker was too big a subsidy and that you can achieve the same effects with a much smaller amount.

B. Worry that maybe there is some fraud in the program and that some of the cash isn’t going to clunkers

C. Increase the budget by $2 billion

The correct answer for clunkheads is C, of course. That’s the wise choice when you are spending other people’s money. What fun that must be!


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