Thomas Molitor
Except for their own.
The government has no resources of its own. Everything it does must come from the hides of private producers and the citizenry.
We’re on our own here folks. Don’t look to politicians to look out for our well-being – they are in no position to do so, nor do they even care for you. They care for their careers, and that is all. Maybe I’m wrong. But it seems so.
As the late comedian George Carlin said in his last HBO special before he died: “The real owners of this country don’t care about you. Forget the politicians. They are put there to give you the illusion that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. The real owners control everything.”
Okay, back to jobs. President Obama promised America “hope and change.” He has been in office for over 2.5 years and we are worse off, statistically, then when he took oath.
It’s not his fault. Well, maybe it is. But he has no cohesive, strategic plan for job creation or vision for a way out of this downward spiral, nor does his Council of Economic Advisors – whose chairs quit faster than workers at McDonalds – or his Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, who in the recent Wyoming summit pretty much said his monetary toolkit was plain out of tools. He did what any honorable member of government would do in his situation: blame someone else. He said: “Congress should quit arguing and pass legislation that gets our economy back on its feet.”
This is harsh criticism of Obama and Congress, but I think it is justified. Clearly, Obama is on his way to a failed presidency if he doesn’t change course with the rollout of his new jobs program. Don’t hold your breath for policy miracles. Like the subject head reads: Politicians don’t create jobs.
Okay, let’s see, who else can we blame?
The Chinese are to blame for America’s unemployment problem
Not.
Chinese goods account for 2.7 percent of U.S. personal consumer expenditures. Chinese imported goods consist mainly of furniture and household equipment, other durables, and clothing and shoes.
You probably guessed that this figure was much higher. Because we see “Made in China” stickers on our clothes, we imagine that Chinese exports are a major factor in replacing jobs in the USA.
Not so. Then why is urban Asia growing richer, you may ask. Mostly because Asian governments have moved away from the older state economic controls. They have freed up their economies.
China has 1.3 billion people. Yet there are no internal regional tariffs. It is the largest free zone on earth. China must feed itself, house itself, transport itself. Then it exports. To imagine that the export sector is the main sector is a mistake. It is the most innovative sector. It is where growth is transferred from an elite to the masses. China is the largest creditor nation in the world.
Steve Jobs creates jobs
The free market and the price system rewards people who implement ideas that customers are willing to pay for. Two words: Steve Jobs. By the way, what an appropriate last name for a guy who has created nearly 40,000 jobs at Apple plus thousands of other jobs in the Apple supply chain. What politician in the history of Congress can match the inventiveness of Steve Jobs and his track record of creating new products and their attendant job creation?
Our politicians here in New Mexico talk about little else than creating jobs – even traveling around the state on a glossy PR-created event called a “Job Tour.” The cynic in me says that the true objective of the “Job Tour” is to set up the politician’s next job in higher office. Nah, shame on me. I’m sure he is genuinely concerned about the number of New Mexicans out of work. But what can one politician do to remedy the problem? Well, there is something he can do if elected. More on that later.
The government may not have the power or knowledge to create jobs, but it does have the power to reduce business regulations, reduce taxation, and let entrepreneurs create jobs. That is it. In other words, get out of the way of tomorrow’s Steve Jobs.
Unemployment in New Mexico comes mainly from the construction sector. This is not a sector that any one politician or committee in New Mexico ruined. This sector was ruined by Federal Reserve policy, which created a housing bubble for the entire nation and then popped it.
Small businesses are traditionally one of the primary engines of job growth in New Mexico. But right now, small businesses all over New Mexico are having a really hard time getting banks to loan them money. A big reason for this is that the Federal Reserve is actually paying banks not to make loans. Member banks borrow from the Federal Reserve at a rate of 0.25 percent and then turn around and deposit the money back with the Federal Reserve at a 2 percent return – essentially, a risk-free profit. The money that is supposed to make its way through the economy never does.
Small businesses aren’t getting money
I would like to see the Federal Reserve eliminate interest payments on money that banks keep on deposit at the Federal Reserve, thereby encouraging the member banks to make loans to people and businesses instead.
This is but one example of monetary reform our country is in dire need of to restore this economy.
I believe a commitment from our current and future representatives in Washington to bold monetary reform at the federal level is of paramount importance in order to empower small businesses, entrepreneurs, and product innovators in New Mexico – in order for them to increase the productive capacity of our great state and get New Mexicans back on the job.
Sorry, I’m afraid another “Job Tour” is not going to do it.
Molitor is a regular columnist for this site. You can reach him at tgmolitor@comcast.net.
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