Cash-for-Clunkers mania spreads: Why not computers?
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Well, that didn’t take long: Given the success of the government’s Cash for Clunkers car trade-in program, BusinessWeek economist Michael Mandel tries to justify a Cash for Clunkers computer trade-in scheme.
On his Economics Unbound blog, Mandel writes:
‘It warms my tough old economist heart to see the new General Motors bringing back workers and adding overtime in response to the ‘cash for clunkers’ initiative. As Americans get rid of those unsightly gas-guzzling wrecks in the driveway, the auto industry is revving up again. ‘But what of those high-tech companies which were supposed to be the economic foundation of the next 50 years? What about Hewlett-Packard and Dell? What about Micron and Intel? Shouldn’t we do as much for computer and semiconductor industry as we do for the auto industry? After all, tech production shows no sign yet of coming back. ‘What we need is a new government program: ‘Cash for Clunker Computers.’ All you people with old Gateways and IBM Thinkpads in your attic or closet need to turn them in for faster and spiffier new models.’
Mandel doesn’t say how many billions of dollars he thinks Uncle Sam should cough up to spur clunker-computer trade-ins.
That’s the great thing about running a trillion-dollar federal budget deficit: Who’s going to notice if you add on a few billion dollars more?
-- Tom Petruno