Comments on: Bailout Watch 332: Ford CEO Alan Mulally Cautious on Car Czar

By: RobertSD

RobertSD — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:24:48 +0000

I mean, he has a point though. If a car czar comes in and tells GM they have to stop making a set of product and focus solely on another set, then GM might not go under now, but in 10 years when they haven’t made any money on plug-ins or EVs, they will be gone. Instead, the government should be thinking about how to change consumer demand. The spike in oil prices did more to help the environment than any government mandate ever could.

The only way to change *real* consumer demand is to tax gas and keep it high. CAFE doesn’t change consumer demand – just consumer choice. And that eventually lowers overall demand and creates a dead-weight economic loss. This is a case where a higher tax on gas used exclusively for infrastructure makes sound economic sense by protecting from shocks and changing consumer demand for a complementary product that is dangerous to public health, the environment and a central theme in geopolitical instability.

By: snafu

snafu — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:34:30 +0000

That indeed will be the likely unwanted result.

By: Joe McKinney

Joe McKinney — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:27:10 +0000

Politics being politics, my bet is the Car Czar will be a another patronage appointment and actual knowledge of the subject will not be the primary qualification.

By: snafu

snafu — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:16:52 +0000

The czar that should be involved would be one that is not of government, but of the industry with a vast knowledge of it, then being appointed by the government. This individual would have no current ties to this industry other than previous successful long term tenure in that industry. Name names.