Recommended: Government Cannot Create Sustainable Jobs

In the Opinion Europe section of the Feb 3, 2012 Wall Street Journal, Arnold King has written an interesting piece entitled Government Cannot Create Sustainable Jobs. King argues that the only kind of jobs that can really revitalize the economy in the long run are jobs that are sustained by market forces. Jobs that are created by government subsidies are, by definition, not sustainable by market forces (if they were, subsidies wouldn't be necessary). He argues that the Keynesian view that in times of depression the government should replace the demand that is missing in the marketplace is an erroneous approach, because the jobs aren't sustainable once the government subsidies are withdrawn, as they must be eventually. And the expensive government policy has done nothing to create more truly sustainable jobs in the economy.

This argument is especially relevant in view of the recent bankruptcies of several "green" initiatives subsidized by the Obama administration, and of the anemic recovery produced by the massive stimulus package. His views are worth thinking about.