It’s Not About Jobs

There may be no greater obstacle to solving our economic problems than defusing the myth that economic prosperity is about job creation. Politicians love to make the focus on job creation because it’s actually one of easiest ways to provide a short-term image of success for short-term minded voters. There are various ways to provide jobs in the short term through various government manipulations or incentives in the market place. These policies, however, by nature are a contradiction to market forces. Thus, these policies at a minimum make us less productive and usually create a necessary market correction in the future resulting in a sudden loss of jobs.

The economy is not about jobs. Jobs do not fulfill some mental satisfaction. If they did, we could all just aimlessly walk around picking up sticks. It’s the result of being productive that creates a satisfaction, both mentally and physically. We are all born with nothing but the need to consume in order to live. It’s our production that makes us better off, not our mere labor or the paper money we are paid in.

Only policies designed around maximum production result in growing prosperity, not policies designed for maximum employment. There will always be an infinite amount of jobs as along as we need to consume and look for ways to improve our lives. It’s the manipulation of the market that creates unemployment. This is the most basic of economic lessons and yet, if a politician starts speaking about how it’s all about jobs, the room will be filled with cheers. We have a long way to go intellectually before we ever fundamentally solve our problems.