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A comment on France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who trade in their car. Parent comment

Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by cheschire on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:05AM (#32563581)
Why is it lame that they had a specific group of disadvantaged people they were trying to target? When governments make blanket payouts (i.e. what the US did during COVID) people complain about the money going to people who don't need it. In this case they had a very specific group, intent, and budget. Isn't this what "small" government is supposed to do?

And the bikes they're trying to encourage people to buy probably aren't the high end ones, or even the mid-range bikes. I'm guessing someone did some research at some point.

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by dmix on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:26AM (#32563825)
Obviously because of how they targeted people and not that they targeted a demographic. 13.5% of the population has access to $300, which is fine but is probably not a the typical market for expensive bikes, and $300 will only get you 5-20% off (not including a helmet).

A lot of these programs are made to sound good on campaign platforms but don’t do much at all IRL

Finding a way to subsidize conversion kits + local shops to do it would be a good way to actually help poor people https://www.autoevolution.com/news/skarper-s-revolutionary-e...

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by LtWorf on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:15AM (#32563690)
You think poor people living in the banlieu are going to get such bikes they can't even afford to have them stolen in 1 hour?

This was probably made targeting some specific category that isn't the one you're thinking.

Better give some money to people who don't need it than make some overly complicated plan that requires a specialist to access and only targets some friends.

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by jeromegv on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:41AM (#32564789)
> Better give some money to people who don't need it than make some overly complicated plan that requires a specialist to access and only targets some friends.

I personally agree with that. But then it always ending up hurting the politicians that came up with that policy because medias will broadcast 24-7 examples of the few people that received it that did not deserve it. Even 2 years after COVID stimulus, McConnel keeps repeating that people are still so rich from receiving thousands and thousands of dollars and that was responsible for 2022 labor shortage... (for $2000 distributed now more than a year ago)

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by LtWorf on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @12:14PM (#32567124)
Yeah that's true. In Italy they gave some money to low income people and I'm sure after the next elections the right wing government that will win will take that away.

They never say how it made people able to avoid joining black market jobs or crime. They just show restaurant owners crying because they can't find (greatly underpaid) workers.

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by qaq on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:09AM (#32563622)
people making under 13K a year are not really buying 6K bikes
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by wolfram74 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:22AM (#32563775)
costco has a folding ebike that's under 400$[0].

[0]https://www.costco.com/jetson-bolt-pro-folding-electric-bike...

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by jstanley on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:40AM (#32564012)
But a 40% subsidy on a $400 bike is only worth $160, not the €4k headline figure.
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by kaibee on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:05AM (#32564338)
If you give everyone a no questions asked 100% subsidy, you're gonna have a lot of people reselling bikes that the government paid for.
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by jacquesm on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:16AM (#32564459)
They'd have to resell them abroad though, the local market would be pretty much saturated, no?
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by danielheath on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:28AM (#32564621)
It's not difficult to get from Paris to Barcelona and back, with or without a bike.
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by Scoundreller on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:52AM (#32565762)
If I need to offload an ebike from Paris, I could think of closer countries that would value them higher!
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by InitialLastName on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:42AM (#32565606)
Why would you buy a bike from a reseller for $0 + profit when you can get one the with a government subsidy for $0?
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by antasvara on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:00AM (#32565032)
Isn't that true of any subsidy? If 40% of my bike is subsidized, I only need to buy and resell that bike for greater than 60% of the purchase price.

I bet you'd get less resellers, but you'd definitely still get a lot of them.

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by andrepd on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:21AM (#32565325)
That is true with any amount of subsidy. And yes, and people can use e.g. welfare payments to buy cigarrettes and booze. That is in itself not an argument against welfare payments.
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by teaearlgraycold on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:19AM (#32565303)
Yeah but you also have cash from selling your car.
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by jstanley on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:30AM (#32565458)
But you get cash from selling your car even without the government subsidy,

If "France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy" is 96% the cash they got from selling their car, then it's a strange turn of phrase. It's more like "the secondhand car market is offering a €4k everything-subsidy if you give up your car"!

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by Workaccount2 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:06AM (#32565107)
Total aside...

That bike looks like one of those mini circus bikes that clowns ride

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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by JKCalhoun on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:25AM (#32563816)
Probably the ones least able to afford petrol though?
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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by panick21_ on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @12:40PM (#32567491)
You know what bikes are good for poor people. Bikes without electric motors.
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