Op-Ed Sees 'Obvious' Fix to Expensive US Vehicles

Once upon a time, a family could drive off the lot in a no-frills "econobox" without taking on years of debt. Economist Clifford Winston argues in a New York Times essay that those days are gone by design, not fate. With the average new car price around $50,000 and sub-$20,000 models all but impossible to find, Winston writes that working- and middle-class Americans have been boxed into pricey vehicles, burdensome loans, and aging used cars that are increasingly costly to fix. Repossessions have roughly doubled in five years, he writes, and losing a car in a country where public transit is often "a ghost" can mean losing access to work and basic services.

Winston traces the shift to stagnant wages, booming wealth at the top, and decades of bipartisan protectionism that shielded Detroit from competition and allowed US automakers to eschew fuel-efficient sedans in favor of high-margin trucks and SUVs. His controversial but "obvious" fix: Lift the embargo on Chinese-made electric vehicles and hybrids and let cheaper foreign models in—ideally built in American factories. He frames reviving the affordable car as both an economic and political test. Read the full essay. Or read about how one particular Chinese vehicle aced an American road test.