Gummint Cheese

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Does government create jobs?

But is it worthwhile to the taxpayers?

You really have to be an idiot to say no. Government does create jobs - law enforcement is a great example. There are tons of others. Your life is touched daily and repeatedly each day by government-based jobs.

The Economist took a look at government created jobs.


http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/09/employment


The chart shows that the federal government is the single largest employer in the nation. That's job creation.

Lemme restate the problem for you...

Saying government is the single biggest employer is applying the most extreme form of tunnel vision I imagine.

Where are the bulk of the jobs in the nation found? Not in government. The private sector out-employs people as compared to the government on the order of several magnitudes.

Private sector jobs also do something a government job is not supposed to do: Create wealth.

The only time government creates wealth is when it directly competes with private industry. That is wrong.

Government should supply only necessary services to the people and no more. What those necessary services are is a column for another day.

Some cool mutants.

Government creates jobs. Some jobs are contracted out to the private sector, true. That creates a hybrid, a mutant if you will. I learned in biology class (to mix some academic fields of research) that most mutants are self-destructing and most hybrids are sterile or require massive outside help to reproduce.

In other words, such contracted jobs are mostly dead-ends. The science of biology is applicable in this instance to the alchemy of economics.

Roads are dead ends. Once built, the massive amount spent on the road comes to an end. Maintenance is a tiny fraction of the construction expense.

All this still does not get to the major point of government-created jobs. There's a huge issue with this which some people are not willing to admit exists.

The American taxpayer.

Where does government get the money to pay these employees?

From taxpayers.

Denying that taxpayers foot the bill is just as stupid as saying government doesn't create jobs.

Which brings up another question.

Are these jobs worth the cost to taxpayers?

Think hard on that one.

Sometimes the answer is absolutely. The court system comes to mind. Road construction is even a good thing - most of the time. Defense is squarely on the side of government.

Defense. Not offense. Bring the troops home.

Research is one of those items that hits both sides, good and bad.

The good, bad and ugly all in one.

When government competes with private industry, that falls absolutely on the bad side. Government does several things when this happens:

1) Most important. It shuts down private enterprise, which is the main source of government funding which creates a death spiral unless it is stopped.

2) It stifles innovation in that area. Why compete with government?

3) It creates huge disparity. Government creates the rules, after all, and absolutely will modify those rules to benefit itself.

4) Consumers have No Choice in the matter. If government does it, you either pay voluntarily or government takes the money from you via taxes. Don't pay your taxes and you could go to jail. Would you let private industry run this way?

So yeah, government does create jobs. But until you honestly answer the question - are those jobs worth the cost to the taxpayer - you haven't really addressed job creation.