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Mankiw’s puzzle of long-term (durable) consumption is a significant topic that needs to be solved.We statistically analyze a time series sample from Germany and from the Czech Republic (2004Q1to 2016Q4). Furthermore, we discussed the analyses that have been performed to date for the USAand France. These analyses have verified the Mankiw’s puzzle theory about the problematic evolutionof durable consumption expenditures. The verification itself has led to arguments for the initiationof scrapping old cars in France and many other European countries in the 1990s (mainly theJuppe and then the Balladur administrations in France). Currently, when we experience economicbooms, it is important to ask what happens in a recession. (The Czech Republic pulled through onemainly due to the automotive industry.) Furthermore, this recession is strengthened if the depreciationrate is much lower than the growth rate of durable consumption. These factors togethercould cause durable consumption to stagnate. We disproved Mankiw’s puzzle theory using a datasample from the Czech Republic and Germany. This conclusion means that long-term consumptiondoes not disappear. The results of the analysis argue against the initiation of scrapping old carsbased on current data. The main explanation of the different conclusions of our analysis and theoriginal analysis is that, currently, the new cars that are sold each year have massive innovations.We have to take into account that the new cars that are sold every year satisfy deeper and widerindividual needs. The previous conclusion is extended, owing to the initialization of e-mobility andthe shorter lifespans of electronic devices.
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