An analyst concludes “cash for clunkers” saved 39,000 jobs that would have otherwise been eliminated.
At a cost of $2.9 billion, that comes out to $74,358.97 per job saved.
(By the way, they allocated $3 billion; what happened to the extra $100 million?)
Of course, many auto-industry analysts have noted that a special promotion like this probably just got people who would have bought a car later in the year or next year to buy one now. Borrowing from the future again, one wonders about the long-term health of those 39,000 jobs . . .
UPDATE: “Administrative costs.” A cool $100 million to administer a temporary program.