A Legislative Lemon?

A new paper finds that Cash For Clunkers failed as a stimulus:

[A]lmost all of the additional purchases under the program were pulled forward from the very near future; the effect of the program on auto purchases is almost completely reversed by as early as March 2010 - only seven months after the program ended. The effect of the program on auto purchases was significantly more short-lived than previously suggested. We also find no evidence of an effect on employment, house prices, or household default rates in cities with higher exposure to the program.

2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan