Bret L
August 11th 09, 05:09 AM
How will Blacks be impacted by Cash for Clunkers?
Obviously, that is a question that will have to be answered on a
group basis, that is, not how one Black or another is affected but the
overall impact the program will have on them.
I have visited several local dealers and looked at the cars being
destroyed under C4C. A disproportionate number are in very good or
excellent shape, and a disproportionate number are of precisely the
type of vehicle preferred by Blacks: larger American vehicles such as
Lincoln Town Cars, Cadillacs, Ford Explorers, Chevy Caprices and the
like. Some have astonishingly low mileage, such that one would think
they were worth more than the government allocated amount as used
cars.
The numbers of these excellent used vehicles being taken out of
circulation will mean that the value of the others will go up, as is
consistent with the law of economics. Blacks will be forced to
purchase more expensive cars and in worse shape, because that's all
the BHPH lots they tend to have to buy from will have. And of course,
the cost of recycled and rebuilt parts will go up, because many of the
condemned cars will be purchased directly by metal crushers or
shredders rather than salvage operations since the salvage lots often
do not want to deal with the requirement to crush the basic structure
and engine within an allocated time frame.
I took the unusual and perhaps bold step of asking, as tactfully as I
could, whether many Black consumers had traded a clunker in so far in
the program. Each salesman or sales manager i asked was forthright in
stating that while of course their dealership did not discriminate, so
far, they had had nothing but White or an occasional Asian customer in
the program.
On the supply side, some Blacks in car manufacturing jobs and Black
owned car repair firms will benefit. But since the trend is for the
purchasers "clunking out" to buy import brands the work is
disproportionately going to Asia and to Asian and European owned
assembly plants in the US, which tend to have a lower percentage of
Black workers than do domestic manufacturers. The overseas brands
typically build their facilities in the Southeast where fewer Blacks
of car-worker age and skills tend to live today.
In short, Blacks in my opinion should evaluate whether barack Obama's
program has benefitted or indeed harmed them, and if they conclude the
latter, they should say so publicly.
Obviously, that is a question that will have to be answered on a
group basis, that is, not how one Black or another is affected but the
overall impact the program will have on them.
I have visited several local dealers and looked at the cars being
destroyed under C4C. A disproportionate number are in very good or
excellent shape, and a disproportionate number are of precisely the
type of vehicle preferred by Blacks: larger American vehicles such as
Lincoln Town Cars, Cadillacs, Ford Explorers, Chevy Caprices and the
like. Some have astonishingly low mileage, such that one would think
they were worth more than the government allocated amount as used
cars.
The numbers of these excellent used vehicles being taken out of
circulation will mean that the value of the others will go up, as is
consistent with the law of economics. Blacks will be forced to
purchase more expensive cars and in worse shape, because that's all
the BHPH lots they tend to have to buy from will have. And of course,
the cost of recycled and rebuilt parts will go up, because many of the
condemned cars will be purchased directly by metal crushers or
shredders rather than salvage operations since the salvage lots often
do not want to deal with the requirement to crush the basic structure
and engine within an allocated time frame.
I took the unusual and perhaps bold step of asking, as tactfully as I
could, whether many Black consumers had traded a clunker in so far in
the program. Each salesman or sales manager i asked was forthright in
stating that while of course their dealership did not discriminate, so
far, they had had nothing but White or an occasional Asian customer in
the program.
On the supply side, some Blacks in car manufacturing jobs and Black
owned car repair firms will benefit. But since the trend is for the
purchasers "clunking out" to buy import brands the work is
disproportionately going to Asia and to Asian and European owned
assembly plants in the US, which tend to have a lower percentage of
Black workers than do domestic manufacturers. The overseas brands
typically build their facilities in the Southeast where fewer Blacks
of car-worker age and skills tend to live today.
In short, Blacks in my opinion should evaluate whether barack Obama's
program has benefitted or indeed harmed them, and if they conclude the
latter, they should say so publicly.