The Myth/Lie of "Government Job Creation"

From Ken Green's post on today's Enterprise Blog:

In the real world, jobs are not magically “created” when some central planner in the Politburo decides everyone needs new shoes, windmills, solar panels, tiny electric cars, fluorescent light bulbs, recycled paper underwear, or Rahm Emanuel action figures. Jobs are created when consumers decide they want to spend money to buy stuff. That means that: a) consumers have to have money to spend, b) they have to be confident enough in the future of the economy to be willing to spend their money, and c) they have to be able to afford the stuff for sale.

Instead of helping to create those conditions, the president and his allies in Congress are doing exactly the opposite. By layering massive regulatory burdens across the economy, they are increasing the costs of doing business; increasing barriers to entry; increasing the costs of goods and services; and destroying, not creating, jobs. By forcing windmills, solar cells, and biofuels into the energy supply, and by slapping “research delays” on everything having to do with fossil fuel production, they’re going to raise the costs of energy, and the costs of goods and services made with that energy (including food), suppressing consumer demand, and killing, not creating, jobs. And if they go ahead with the Kerry-Lieberman energy rationing plan deceptively named “The American Power Act,” they’ll make all of that significantly worse.

“Government job creation” is a myth bordering on a “Big Lie.”