Cash for Clunkers...Clunked

As expected the Cash for Clunkers program did nothing more than pull demands forward, thus ensuring a collapse in demand in the months following the program:

We find that the program induced the purchase of an additional 360,000 cars in July and August of 2009. However, almost 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.

A lot of people who were in position to profit from this did so, and good for them. However, if the purpose was to stimulate the economy over a long period, it didn't happen.