When Will We Get Past The Idea Of Government Created Employment?
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Hopefully, at some point in time, the mistaken notion that government can create jobs will wear out and we’ll stop seeing these kinds of headlines, suggesting that we can tax increase our way to full employment. I fully understand that those in the construction industry think that public make-work projects will benefit them and in doing so they will be able to offer employment to folks who currently aren’t working. That doesn’t make economic prosperity materialize out of government-financed thin air.
We saw with the federal government, shovel-ready stimulus program that in spite of a hole we may never dig out of that the result was anything but the resounding success we were promised. They even had to make up a new government-speak concept of “saved jobs” to try and pretend our way into thinking that the rat hole the dollars went down had some benefit.
A friend recently shared the insight of the often-told story of the “Broken Window” syndrome. In that account a store-front window was broken with a rock. The idea suggests that because of the broken window, positive economic activities unfold. The store owner needs to pay for the repair and the many transactions that flow from this fix yields jobs and benefits for those connected to window construction.
Meanwhile the store owner had planned to spend his money on a new suit -- prior to the vandalized need for fixing his window. Since he spent the money on the new window he didn’t have the money to pay for the new suit and those connected with these ventures lost out.
Same concept with the mistaken idea that raising taxes in Nevada for construction is going to benefit the state’s employment picture. Government can’t prop up our economy by taking money away from some and giving it to others. The sooner we come to understand that reality the better our overall economy will be able to perform.
Hopefully, at some point in time, the mistaken notion that government can create jobs will wear out and we’ll stop seeing these kinds of headlines, suggesting that we can tax increase our way to full employment. I fully understand that those in the construction industry think that public make-work projects will benefit them and in doing so they will be able to offer employment to folks who currently aren’t working. That doesn’t make economic prosperity materialize out of government-financed thin air.
We saw with the federal government, shovel-ready stimulus program that in spite of a hole we may never dig out of that the result was anything but the resounding success we were promised. They even had to make up a new government-speak concept of “saved jobs” to try and pretend our way into thinking that the rat hole the dollars went down had some benefit.
A friend recently shared the insight of the often-told story of the “Broken Window” syndrome. In that account a store-front window was broken with a rock. The idea suggests that because of the broken window, positive economic activities unfold. The store owner needs to pay for the repair and the many transactions that flow from this fix yields jobs and benefits for those connected to window construction.
Meanwhile the store owner had planned to spend his money on a new suit -- prior to the vandalized need for fixing his window. Since he spent the money on the new window he didn’t have the money to pay for the new suit and those connected with these ventures lost out.
Same concept with the mistaken idea that raising taxes in Nevada for construction is going to benefit the state’s employment picture. Government can’t prop up our economy by taking money away from some and giving it to others. The sooner we come to understand that reality the better our overall economy will be able to perform.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 3/13/2011 7:18 PM 
Categories: 2011 Nevada Legislature
Tags: Nevada Budget and Taxes
Categories: 2011 Nevada Legislature
Tags: Nevada Budget and Taxes
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