HERE

We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

Think of it this way: A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year.

A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year. 

They claim 700,000 vehicles so that’s 224 million gallons saved per year.  That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. 5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption. 

More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel costs about $350 million dollars. So, the government paid $3 Billion of our tax dollars to save $350 million. 

We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I’m pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though.

The long-simmering clash between the world’s two great powers is coming to a head, with dangerous implications for the international system.

….read more HERE

China and commodities bull Jim Rogers thinks the economy is going to eventually run out of gas by 2012. While he doesn’t call this a double dip, he does say that “the next time it’s going to be worse because we’ve shot all of our bullets.” With zero interest rates and huge government deficits all around, policy options are definitely more limited.

Are we headed toward a global trade war? Maybe so, judging from the rhetoric that is being thrown around by some big names. The issue is whether the United States should try to remedy its trade deficit by forcing China to make its currency—and hence its exports—more expensive.

Paul Krugman, the U.S. economist and Nobel winner, is one of those talking tough. “It’s time to take a stand” against China’s currency peg with the U.S. dollar, he says. He’s urging Congress to name China as a currency manipulator and threaten it with tariffs of 25% on any Chinese goods entering the United States.

….read more HERE