Government Can Not “Create” Jobs

By R.J. Fee
April 22, 2009

Once again, our illustrious political leaders have demonstrated their ignorance of basic economics by perpetuating this fallacy that a government program can “create” a job. A job exists when a demand for a certain good or service is met by the willing laborer that provides that good or service. This demand and supply occur naturally in society and they are in a constant state of flux due to a variety of influencing factors. A government program can only change that which is already in existence in the private sector and make the market for that good or service much more inefficient due to the many layers of bureaucratic administrative costs.

In order to accept the notion that the government can appropriate tax dollars to “create” jobs, one would have to accept that a market for this good or service does not currently exist and therefore must be artificially created. This would also mean that in order for these jobs to continue, a continuous subsidy of tax dollars must be appropriated for this artificial supply and demand to continue to exist. Hence we arrive at the true reason for this plan of government job creation. The true reason for these programs is to increase the leverage government has over the work force and increase the populous’ overall dependence on government

Is a certain level of industry regulation necessary? Absolutely, from a pure law enforcement standpoint, anarchy would occur without a certain amount of regulation. Are there instances when industry self regulation is not sufficient to provide this regulation? Most assuredly, this is also the case. However, the concept of regulation is just that. The regulating body, be it an industry self regulating body (i.e. The American Medical Association) or a government agency (i.e. the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), is not in existence to create a market. Doing so would distract the organization from its true job of regulation, which we have found to be the case with organizations such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as Congress and the last several Presidential Administrations.

The only thing more ridiculous than buying into the notion that the government can “create” jobs is the notion that the government is going to spend your money to “save” jobs. As mentioned in a previous blog, it is a brilliant marketing strategy to waste taxpayer money. You will achieve nothing, but yet claim that you have saved jobs knowing that something that never occurs can neither be proven nor disproven.

At its core, the purpose of law and government is to protect the life, liberty and property of each and every individual. Anything more or less than that is a perversion of power.