Cash for clunkers cost a lot for no benefit

As we guessed, there were no additional purchases of cars and trucks. Just the same number were purchased earlier. And we had to borrow billions from our future. Economists Atif Mian, Amir Sufi at NBER

... We find that the program induced the purchase of an additional 360,000 cars in July and August of 2009. However, almost all of the additional purchases under the program were pulled forward from the very near future; the effect of the program on auto purchases is almost completely reversed by as early as March 2010 – only seven months after the program ended.

Who claims ownership of this mess? Via Marginal Revolution.