The following is a letter to the editor Dr. Hurd wrote to a local paper in Delaware, in response to a liberal’s support of Obama’s jobs bill.
In an October 5th Letter to the Editor, Peter Schott wrote, “If you look at those who the Republicans regard as job creators, you will find that many are truly job killers. When unregulated they merge, and no merger has ever resulted in more jobs being provided. They send work overseas, and no Americans gain jobs. They provide a few minimum wage jobs, which adds little to the economy by keeping people poor, while giving their corporate officers enormous salaries and perks.”
The problem isn’t mergers or lack of mergers. The problem is government’s involvement in the first place. The motivation of a politician is to acquire power and gain votes. The alternative is the loss of their jobs, so they naturally focus on what they have to do to build coalitions and keep themselves in power. Politicians simply do not possess the incentive to expand the economy or provide jobs, primarily because their jobs don’t depend directly on the economy. And it doesn’t matter if the politician who meddles in economic activity is a Republican or a Democrat.
The solution is an unregulated free market (outside the obvious boundaries of fraud or violation of contracts). This would allow businesses to do what their self-interest necessarily requires: To please as many customers as possible while making as much profit as possible.
It’s fashionable to condemn profit in today’s political climate. But without profit, where are the jobs of which Mr. Schott writes? Only profitable companies hire people. Profit is a sign of economic growth and health, not of weakness. Business profits have been curbed and in some cases destroyed by the continuing recession. Trillions of dollars in government spending — financed mostly through debt imposed on future generations — has done nothing to alleviate this recession. Unemployment continues to rise while the economy stagnates.
Too many people claim that government must curb profits and increase government services. But the money to pay for those services comes entirely from taxes levied on profits earned by the private sector. If we continue to demonize business, thus killing off the private sector, it’s only a matter of time before we will all be equally needy. And who will pay for Big Government’s “services” then?
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.
Rehoboth Beach, DE
302-227-2829