Its time now to review the $3 billion cash incentive program -- Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), informally known as "Cash for Clunkers" -- which officially ended Tuesday. The program, launched by the U.S. Government in late July, allowed consumers to trade in their old gas-guzzling cars and trucks with a mileage of 18 miles per gallon (mpg) or less for a value of up to $3,500–$4,500. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that as many as 690,114 new cars were sold under the program, reflecting $2.88 billion in rebate applications, which is closer to the program allocation. About 84% of the vehicles traded in by the consumers are trucks and SUVs. About 59% of consumers opted for passenger cars in exchange. The average fuel-economy of the vehicle purchased was 24.9 mpg in combined city and highway driving, compared to 15.8 mpg for vehicles being traded in. ...

In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Martin Feldstein, Ronald Reagan’s top economist and a Harvard professor, claims the current health care proposals are all about rationing.  I have to disagree. Excerpts from his article are below, along with my critique. "Although administration officials are eager to deny it, rationing health care is central to President Barack Obama's health plan. The Obama strategy is to reduce health costs by rationing the services that we and future generations of patients will receive. "The White House Council of Economic Advisers issued a report in June explaining the Obama Administration's goal of reducing projected health spending by 30% over the next two decades. That reduction would be achieved by eliminating 'high cost, low-value treatments' by 'implementing a set of performance measures that all providers would adopt' and by 'directly targeting individual providers . . . (and other) high-end outliers.'" First and ...

.S. gross domestic product (GDP) plunged at a surprisingly sharp 6.1% annual rate in the first quarter, marking its worst performance in 50 years, the Commerce Department reported today (Wednesday). The drop was much steeper than the 4.9% annual rate expected by economists and follows a 6.3% tumble in the fourth quarter of 2008. But a look inside the numbers shows that things may not be as bad as they look. Plummeting exports and massive inventory reductions accounted for most of the fall. And increases in government and consumer spending have some analysts convinced the future looks much brighter. “This is one of those good-bad numbers,” Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. in Holland, Pa, wrote in a note to investors. “Businesses are running about as lean as they possibly can be. It sets up the reality that any sort of ...

President Barack Obama convened a “who’s who” of executives from the nation’s largest banks Friday to mend fences with Wall Street and drum up support for his plans to stabilize the financial system.

The meeting appeared to clear the air as bankers said afterward they knew their companies are vital to a potential economic recovery and they want to work with the government.

“The basic message is we’re all in this together,” John Stumpf, the Chief Executive Officer of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), told reporters outside the White House after meeting with Obama. “We’re trying to do the right thing for America.”

The White House meeting was called in part to instill a sense of interdependence among attendees and to try to get beyond the furor over bailouts and bonuses that have roiled relations between the administration and the financial community.

“He wanted to convey to

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