Help Me Understand Why

I've noticed the great decline hit worse after the great scrap drive of 2006 when China and India were trying to outbuy each other in the recyclable material business. Then that was immediately followed by that wonderful "cash for clunkers" program. It's hard to say how much we actually lost during that time frame until scrap price bottomed back out. I witnessed several vehicles that weren't that bad (eighties japanese mostly) driven in and and the owners (usually estate heirs looking for their next fix or trip to the suboxone/methadone clinic) selling them by the hundred weight.