Should We Subsidize Building Cheap Little Cars that No One Wants?

In the news on the electric vehicle front is Terry McAuliffe, prolific political campaign fund-raiser and close friend of Bill Clinton. On Tuesday, McAuliffe will announce to world leaders at the Clinton Global Initiative a commitment to invest $1 billion to build neighborhood electric vehicles in economically depressed areas of the United States to spur the economy and create green jobs.

So how much appetite do we Americans have for cramped, cheap little cars that go 25 MPH?  I’d say it’s just a hair’s breadth this side of zero.  This enterprise will not succeed, but the only reason that it is even worthy of a conversation is the huge incentives that Mr. McAuliffe and his super-powerful buddies intend to ram through Congress. I.e., taxpayers will be forced once again to open up their wallets to make feasible a business that would have been laughed out of any corporate board room I’ve ever been in.

There is so much good that the public sector can – and must — do at this precious moment in time.  But these actions must be disciplined, well-conceived, and free of undue influence.  This example has none of these characteristics, and will justifiably raise the ire of an electorate that is already pretty fed-up with wasteful government spending.