By: Lee J. Miller and Marco Babic
Source: bloomberg.com
The U.S. economy is poised to emerge from the worst postwar recession as early as this quarter, with manufacturers boosted by the government’s “cash-for-clunkers” program, according to the two biggest U.S.-owned automakers.
“Cash for clunkers came at a very, very good time to jump-start the economy,” Mike DiGiovanni, sales analyst at Detroit-based General Motors Co., said at a teleconference. The so-called Car Allowance Rebate System, which provides credits of as much as $4,500 for the purchase of a new car when an older vehicle to be scrapped is handed over, ran through most of its initial $1 billion of funding within a week.
“If the cash-for-clunkers program is extended by the additional $2 billion that passes the Senate, it could boost third-quarter GDP by 0.5 percentage points,” DiGiovanni said.
U.S. ‘Clunkers’ Add 0.5 Percentage Point to GDP: Chart of Day
