Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Clunk in the Dark:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_02-2009_08_08.shtml#1249440018
The Associated Press [1]reports:
The Obama administration is refusing to quickly release government
records on its "cash-for-clunkers" rebate program that would
substantiate � or undercut � White House claims of the program's
success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote
for $2 billion to boost car sales. . . .
The Associated Press has sought release of the data since last
week. Rae Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, said the agency will provide the data requested as
soon as possible.
DOT officials already have received electronic details from car
dealers of each trade-in transaction. The agency receives regular
analyses of the sales data, producing helpful talking points for
[Transportation Secretary] LaHood, White House spokesman Robert
Gibbs and other officials to use when urging more funding. . . .
LaHood, the program's chief salesman, has pitched the rebates as
good for America, good for car buyers, good for the environment,
good for the economy. But it's difficult to determine whether the
administration is overselling the claim without seeing what's being
sold, what's being traded in and where the cars are being sold.
LaHood, for example, promotes the fact that the Ford Focus so far
is at the top of the list of new cars purchased under the program.
But the limited information released so far shows most buyers are
not picking Ford, Chrysler or General Motors vehicles, and six of
the top 10 vehicles purchased are Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.
Meanwhile, [2]James Hamilton compares "cash-for-clunkers" to the
Agricultural Adjustment Act.
References
1.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cash_for_clunkers_transparency
2. http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2009/08/cash_for_clunke.html
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