The Law of Unintended Consequences Revisited Again

This article in the Deseret News points out some issues I hadn't thought about. In addition, to encouraging people to take on more debt to buy a car they otherwise wouldn't have purchased, those of us who choose to live our lives in thrift and only buy used vehicles are going to pay an even greater price. Used cars will inevitably go up in price due to the significant reduction of used cars on the market.

The whole idea of "cash for clunkers" is completely moronic. It doesn't even create the benefits it claims. It certainly does not help the environment. How does filling up our dumps or recycling plants in order to produce new cars that otherwise would not have been produced actually benefit our environment? Sure, there might be a reduction in CO2 emissions due to higher fuel standards. But there is also an increase in C02 emissions in order to produce these new fuel-efficient vehicles. And mind you, recycling is a very costly use of resources as well. It is much more environmentally friendly to re-use what we have as long as the good still functions than waste resources converting these goods into other goods. Nothing is better for the environment than using the goods and services we have for as long as possible regardless of the negative impact that it might have on GDP. Another great example of how good the government is at appearing like it is doing something good.