Scrappage is stupid

IF scrappage for cars is such a good idea, why not for houses — cash to demolish badly insulated houses and build new ones?

Scrapping cars is stupid when they could be repaired. Aircraft can be kept going for 40 years by reusing second-hand parts and ships can be refitted. Scrappage is simply the road lobby covertly manipulating governments to put public money into their coffers.

It is supposed to stimulate consumer consumption and economic growth, but nothing can grow forever. Collapse eventually follows. But economic theory assumes it can and that natural resources are infinite and valueless. Thus anything that produces economic activity is good — be it war, road crashes, crime or illness — whereas health and happiness are valueless.