And that’s why the US savings rate is so high, right?

“In the long run” arguments are cheap. Everybody can preface whatever their prediction is by saying, “In the long run” and have an out. What about the short term? Is it your contention that were these jobs not in Parkersburg, something else would be? You can’t KNOW that. You can claim it, and you can point to other people who can claim it, but you can’t accurately predict the future. Nobody can.

Yeah, it’s a net drain but compared to all the other shit the govt’ wastes money on no one could seriously bitch about this and others like it.

I do not know which economic theories you rely on, but even Marx and Engels admitted the productivity of capitalism. The preferred economist of the left, Lord Keynes, advocated government control of the money supply with an inflationary bias to stimulate the economy.

But no economist on the planet seriously suggests that governments create employment in the long run.

If you want an experiment on the relative efficacy of government-run economies, I would suggest you compare the experiences between 1948 and 1998 of India – with a vast initial insfrastructure, resource and capital base coupled with an interventionist, fabian socialist government and high taxes – and Hong Kong – with almost no resources, infrastructure or capital but low taxes and a laissez-faire government. India finally threw out the Congress party and started reforms in the 1990s, since which time their economy has begun to grow at a rapid pace, but they are still far behind Hong Kong.

Wouldn’t surprise me at all if some of them worked at stores, some at restaurants, perhaps a few in healthcare, a couple of police officers, maybe a fireman or two, etc.

You’re working from economic theories you’re personally sympathetic to, not established facts. You don’t, and can’t, know for certain that more jobs would be available in places like Parkersburg just because some author (like Bastiat) said so.

All these things are contradictory.
The lefty’s statement mocked: “let’s raise taxes to pay for services” makes sense. You can argue with the merits, but at least its rational.

So no matter how bad the Democratic party might get, they are the only ones advocating rationality.

| BamBam | November 13th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
How about everyone donate a Zimbabwe Trillion Dollar Note to offset the public debt?

The dollar has to fall to parity with Zimbabwean currency first.

.
.
.

Shouldn’t take too long.

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-TRILLION-ZIMBABWE-DOLLAR-CURRENCY-MONEY-BANK-NOTE_W0QQitemZ290354273458QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPaper_Money?hash=item439a769cb2

If you are going to erect a straw man, allow me to burn it for you:

Capitalism does not guarantee employment and people do suffer bad consequences of corporate decisions or economic changes. Horse breeders suffered loss of employment when the automobile took over. The whaling industry collapsed with the growth of the petroleum industry. And mining industry towns have a life span that is limited to the the productive life of the mines. (This last was true even in ancient times.) I will not pretend that there are no bad things under capitalism. However, you (and Sam) pretend that the government can prevent these bad things without causing worse things elsewhere, which is utter bullshit.

What capitalism has done is fantastically expand the range of opportunities open to individuals while raising the modal standard of living for the entire population. This cannot be said of any government program.

And at the bottom: How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?

Who in their RIGHT FUCKING MIND would buy this propaganda nonsense about the debt belonging to the public (meaning everyone)?

“Government creates boom and bust cycles. Quit applying government failure to capitalism.”

Ahhh, the classic libertarian fallback – blame the government for everything. It really makes arguing easier! Capitalism is not at fault for one thing, nadda. It’s crazy, if capitalism creates fairys, unicorns, and a utopia of milk and honey for everyone, you’d wonder why it’s not applied everywhere, all over the world. But no worries, just put your fingers in your ears and cry socialism every time Obama speaks.

I suggest you read Bastiat. His essay on the “Negative Railway” is a classic reductio ad absurdum on the notion of government created jobs.

And in the wonderful boom/bust cycle that capitalism creates

Reality sucks, doesn’t it? Not everyone can be saved, have full employment, health “insurance”, a house, 2 SUVs, a 50″ TV, 3 dogs, etc. Reality dictates that not everyone can, wants to, and should be able to afford what their neighbor has. A horrible alternative is a planned and controlled economy, such as what a fully socialist government and people brings, unlike the mixed capitalism/socialism that exists in USA.

Very clearly, there are people wishing unemployment on these folks in Parkersburg.

The government does not create wealth, and as such cannot create jobs. It can only shuffle them around, and the worst part is that the jobs that don’t exist because of these people most likely would create wealth and lead to ever more economic prosperity.

#26 cleavingSpace

Them and their families rot in the streets, because unemployment insurance is a redistribution of wealth.

There’s nothing wrong with insurance. And there’s nothing wrong with the concept of unemployment insurance. It’s only redistribution of wealth when the participants are forced to buy into it. If it were a good thing, you wouldn’t need to force people into the program. You don’t have to force people to do something that is plainly beneficial to them. The force is required because they want the biggest contributors to be those who need it the least(ie: those wealthy enough not to need unemployment insurance). That’s redistribution of wealth, not insurance.

It’s not nearly so galling that people want redistribution of wealth, but that they insist on deceptively calling it something else. If they’re greedy for someone else’s money, I’d have a lot more respect for them if they were at least honest about it (like, for example, most petty crooks).

Government creates boom and bust cycles. Quit applying government failure to capitalism. Get over yourself. You aren’t changing any minds here. You’re just reinforcing every negative stereotype about the left side of the political spectrum. You just keep regurgitating the same misconceptions about libertarianism and the free market in every post. You aren’t doing yourself any favors.