There's a fiscal side too - Americans are spending a constantly increasing share of their personal incomes on the purchasing, fueling and maintenance of personal cars and trucks. Paul and Phoenix. Families in more compact regions, among them Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, New York and Honolulu, pay significantly less. All this is most serious for the poorest fifth of U.S. families. Thirty-six percent of their average income goes for cars and trucks.
Cars diminish wealth, homes add.
While homes gained 3.2 percent a year in value in the '90s, cars depreciated at 8 percent a year. No matter how you figure, it's time to stop throwing a blizzard of dollars at our auto masters. Neal Peirce's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. With A Friend Common Dreams NewsCenter is a non-profit news service providing breaking news and views for the Progressive Community. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.