Comments on: Great Economic Thoughts http://deanesmay.com/2009/03/21/great-economic-thoughts/ Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy. Thu, 24 May 2012 04:39:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Sigivald http://deanesmay.com/2009/03/21/great-economic-thoughts/#comment-171159 Sigivald Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:16:11 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2009/03/21/great-economic-thoughts/#comment-171159 The other blind spot there is the idea that <I>jobs only count if the State makes them directly</i>. If jobs are made by the actions of the market, rather than by a "plan" or other action of the State, well, that's the same as no jobs at all. (One even more uncharitable than myself might ascribe that to, rather than just a Statist blind spot, partisan blinkers such that "jobs that don't benefit my party aren't important" (or worse, "jobs that benefit the other party's worldview are <I>worse than unemployment</i>", but I think that would be unfair on the available evidence.) The other blind spot there is the idea that jobs only count if the State makes them directly.

If jobs are made by the actions of the market, rather than by a “plan” or other action of the State, well, that’s the same as no jobs at all.

(One even more uncharitable than myself might ascribe that to, rather than just a Statist blind spot, partisan blinkers such that “jobs that don’t benefit my party aren’t important” (or worse, “jobs that benefit the other party’s worldview are worse than unemployment“, but I think that would be unfair on the available evidence.)

]]> By: Paul S. http://deanesmay.com/2009/03/21/great-economic-thoughts/#comment-171142 Paul S. Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:53:08 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2009/03/21/great-economic-thoughts/#comment-171142 I remember when I used to read Yglesias with some regularity, but then, like many other lefty bloggers, he seemed to have gone over the edge during the 2004 election and became narrowly focused on trench warfare partisan politics. Anyway, the above is, sadly, a fairly typical populist economic argument - that job creation, regardless of its utility is of the utmose importance. This thought process suffers from Bastiat's "broken window fallacy." I remember when I used to read Yglesias with some regularity, but then, like many other lefty bloggers, he seemed to have gone over the edge during the 2004 election and became narrowly focused on trench warfare partisan politics.

Anyway, the above is, sadly, a fairly typical populist economic argument – that job creation, regardless of its utility is of the utmose importance. This thought process suffers from Bastiat’s “broken window fallacy.”

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