Hey Washington: You’re 5.8 percent rate means our 9.8 percent rate may keep going up

Major factors for the job numbers?

Well, isn’t that nice for all of you there in Termite Town. But let me give you a quick lesson about why this is bad news for everyone else in the country.

First, it’s a prime example of why Mancur Olsen believed great nations would inevidably decline — concentrated benefits and dispersed costs. In other words, all of those newly minted DC bureaucrats and their attendant lobbyists suck resources from the economy. So while all the “retail and restaurant segments” that serve these unproductive federal employees are thriving due to their proximity to the largess, those who are footing the bill – taxpayers – are still hurting. And you, Washington, are at the center of this swirling vortex. 

Second, job creation is not wealth creation. Remember the broken windows fallacy? If it made economic sense to create wealth by diverting resources to unproductive uses, you could hire an army of teenagers to break windows on M Street. The glaziers and installers would have new jobs, which, of course, would make the Washington Post. But you wouldn’t see any columns about the restaurants that would have fewer resources (and thus fewer waiters) because they’re having to spend money to replace storefront windows. Likewise, the Washington Post ignores the fate of the rest of America while celebrating it’s ill-gotten bounty.

If creating jobs were as simple as using government money to hire more people, you could have people dig ditches using only teaspoons. You could achieve full employment tomorrow! But you would be destroying wealth everywhere else in the country. In fact, that’s exactly what you’re doing.

The gravy train will trundle to a stop one way or the other — whether due to much needed austerity measures, or due to the fact that you can’t get blood from a turnip. So enjoy it while you can.

Max Borders is a writer living in Austin. He blogs at Ideas Matter.