President Obama’s Jobs Errors
What’s happening in Washington gives investors, entrepreneurs and other job creators little reason to feel optimistic, says Daniel J. Mitchell, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute…
President Obama has failed spectacularly on his promise to deliver jobs. What were his biggest mistakes?
Let’s start with two commonsense observations:
* Businesses are not charities; they only create jobs when they think that the total revenue generated by new workers will exceed the total cost of employing those workers.
* Also, it takes money to create jobs; more specifically, labor isn’t very useful or productive unless investors are providing capital.
Businesses have plenty of extra cash — the key issue is whether companies have a reason to invest. In other words, if they start spending money and hiring workers, will they make money?