Tuesday, November 24, 2009

MÃOS LARGAS EM TEMPO DE CRISE


Que razões terão estado na origem de tanta genorosidade dos contribuintes portugueses em geral para com aqueles que compram um pópó novo?

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From The Economist print edition
As the world economy tumbled into recession, most rich countries’ governments tried to prop up ailing carmakers by dishing out cash to drivers who scrapped an old vehicle to buy a new one. According to the OECD, America’s programme was the most generous on a purchasing-power basis, offering car-buyers an average of $4,000 in cash for their aged “clunkers”. Canadians received less than an eighth of this amount for agreeing to “retire their rides”. Germany’s programme was second only to America’s in its generosity. At 0.2% of GDP, it cost more, relative to the size of the economy, than that of any other country. Subsidies were much lower in France, Italy and Scandinavia.

2 comments:

João Vaz said...

Esta política de subsídios encapotados à indústria automóvel com base em critérios pseudo-ambientais é ruinosa.

João Vaz said...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace said on Thursday the burgeoning schemes encouraging European consumers to scrap older cars did not address fundamental problems in the auto sector and wasted taxpayers' money.

"The schemes will not increase the competitiveness of the car sector, nor will they benefit the climate, the environment or road safety," Greenpeace said in a letter to EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen. A growing number of countries are offering scrap incentives to encourage drivers to ditch old cars for more fuel-efficient models. The "cash for clunkers" scheme drove up car sales by 40 percent in Germany last month after a 21.5 percent jump in February, making it one of only two markets in Europe to post a rise that month.

The incentives will not resolve overcapacity in the auto industry, Greenpeace said.

"These schemes are designed to encourage consumers to buy cars now, rather than later. But all they are likely to achieve is to cushion the sale slump today, triggering an even greater crash in coming years," it said.

The environmentalists also said carmakers were using the schemes to get rid of stocks of lower-standard models, ahead of new pollution standards that will come into force in September.

"Governments must not squander public funds to renew their national car fleets, unless each subsidized car model has a markedly better environmental and safety performance than the one it replaces," it said.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Will Waterman)