Big Gesture, Quick Fix, Stepping on Toes

I'm not a political person. Not at all. I don't affiliate myself with either party, and the extremes of both sides are troubling to me. This post is not intended to be a political statement, but rather a look at what seem to be flaws in the governments attempts to "right the ship" of our economy. Particularly, I want to address the very popular Cash for Clunkers program. On the surface, it seems like a win/win type of situation. The federal government gives added incentive to consumers to trade in old vehicles and purchase new, fuel efficient vehicles. People get themselves into new cars at great discounts, the auto industry gets a boost, and America consumes less fuel as a result. Sounds great right? Most people think so.

Have you talked to an auto repair worker lately? Oh, them. The people who you begrudgingly hand money over to when your car breaks down. The program which has auto manufacturers and dealers jumping for joy is also dealing a deadly blow to auto repair shops across the country who were already hit hard by the economy. How? The Cash for Clunkers program has very strict stipulations in regard to what is to be done with the "clunker" customers trade in for the new car. Regardless of it's condition, the used car must be disabled and sold for scrap or at auction. Even if everything works perfectly, the dealership has to put the engine out of commission and take the vehicle of the road permanently.

This means that about 750,000 vehicles have been pulled out of the system and replaced by new cars. The natural progression of cars needing maintenance, minor repairs, and major repairs has been severely altered. The effect for auto repair shops will be felt for months and perhaps years.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that when the government steps in to alter the environment in the economy, it will in most instances hurt one industry as much as it helps another. So, how does government decide who is going to be the beneficiary of everyone's hard earned tax dollars? Lobbyists? Experts? Advisers?

I have an idea for the government. Let the capitalist economy function as it is supposed to. Fair competition seems to be the hallmark of a good economy. If a company gets so large that it's failure would mean a national financial collapse, it is too large. The government's job at that point would be to split the giant company into smaller competing companies. If one of these new companies makes bad decisions and goes under, so be it. They have failed, and the employees move on to a company who is still competing.

The idea of government using taxpayer money to continually bail out a company who has failed, but is "too large to fail" is absurd. Big gestures and quick fixes are what got us into this mess. Even if it means that everybody cuts back and suffers to some degree, it is better that capitalism runs it's course.