Anti-Creationism
June 12, 2009 2 Comments
By now everybody has made note of the Obama Administration’s spin that their policies have, or are going to, “save or create” such-and-such number of jobs. People criticize this because, they say, by adding “save” into the mix, Obama is able to inflate his numbers arbitrarily, well above what they could ever rightfully claim to have created. After all, there’s no way to check how many jobs get “saved”, right? So (the criticism concludes) an honest administration would only speak of jobs created, not “saved or created”.
This criticism is wrong, and here’s why: government doesn’t even “create” jobs, let alone “save or create” them. The widespread, long-held idea that it makes sense to speak about how many jobs this or that government policy “creates” never made a lick of sense in the first place. Sure, “save or create” is wrong too. But let’s not give “create” a pass here.
I agree. Only a healthy economy based on freedom of choice can create jobs. Political meddling can only destroy them.
And yet, I am unmoved.