Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Cash 4 Clunkers Update

From the front page of today's WSJ:

Headline: Economists Upgrade Second-Half GDP Forecasts

"Economists are predicting a brighter second half of the year as the cash-for-clunkers program boosts spending and U.S. manufacturers ramp up their production." It went on to quote Mark Zandi, prominent (GOP) economist, "When you combine leaner inventories with more sales, that's the fundamental reason for being more optimistic about at least the second half of this year," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com. The firm revised its third-quarter forecast to 1.6% from 1.1%, and its fourth-quarter outlook to 2.1% from 0.2%."

I agree - it is always petty when someone takes credit for another's idea. Remind me, Mark, is C4C a Bush program or an Obama program?

3 comments:

Baxter said...

Didn't think I'd get a comment on this one.

Mark R. said...

I already commented. Are you not capable of looking up the IRS form I pointed out to you for previous years credits for purchasing fuel efficient vehicles? This is just a variation of the idea that already was in place nothing more.

For an economist to actually state that the economy is getting better because of the cash-for-clunkers program is an idiotic statement. That would mean that the autobile sector alone drives the economy.

One thing is for sure, it is not the ridiculous pork laden stimulus bill that your party passed that is driving the economy.

Baxter said...

Bushes program (if any) was obviously a loser (surprise) since no one heard of it.

Mark Zandi knows far more than Mark R does about the economy. Pick your battles, Mark, and leave Zandi off your list.