Reply #3: American cars

[thesquanderer]

The author suggested that any "American-made car produced by any auto company" would qualify, if the manufacturer participated in the restructuring program. So only the Chevys and Fords made in the U.S. would qualify, not the cars those companies make elsewhere; and Toyotas made in the U.S. could qualify in theory, except that they have no reason to want to particpate in a government coordinated restructuring that tells them how to run their business.

Like all proposed plans, it's a starting point that could certainly be tweaked. Maybe a Chevy made in Mexico qualifies for some smaller rebate, or maybe the rebate varies with "how" American-made a car is (they have stickers that tell you what percentage of the parts are American, and where final assembly was done, so one could come up with some formula).

But imagine of, for the next 60 days or whatever, people knew that could get a brand new car for 50% off. I think the public response would be enormous, and it would both rescue the car companies and provide a major stimulus to the entire economy, in short order. Much better than giving the car companies money directly, which has no immediate consumer benefit and no immediate major benefit to the economy. That only benefits the car companies.

Also, this was the dollar does double duty, instead of x dollars going to car companies and another x dollars going into some other consumer stimulus program, like the last tax stimulus check, which might have gone to things like paying down debt, which, while a good use of the money for the individual, would not be terribly stimulating for the economy as a whole.