Job Growth

For nearly 20 years I have worked in some form of politics/public policy and one thing that troubles me probably more than anything else is when some public official comments on "...the jobs we have created.........." as if governments actually create jobs. Yes, my statist friends government can "create" jobs simply by taking more of our personal wealth and/or via borrowing money but these are essentially "make work" jobs - not jobs created by entrepreneurs and dynamic economic changes driven by market decisions. Question -- did any government jobs program create the job of "Webmaster" ? Of course not, the privatization of the Internet and entrepreneurs created this new job category not Al Gore's centralized planning model.

Since job growth is typically a key indicator of good public policy here are the "2005 Job Growth" rates around the USA with select states noted below (Source: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, February 26, 2006):

RANK STATE 2005 JOB GROWTH

1. Nevada 5.79 %
2. Idaho 4.67
3. Arizona 4.51% -- likely to gain 2 more US House seats in 2010
4. Utah 4.44% -- please see my posting here, "Geography of Death"
5. Oregon 3.49%

12. Iowa 1.98% -- improving but likely to lose a US House seat in 2010

US Average 1.5 %

30. Minnesota 1.24%

50. Louisiana -10.19%

Of course Louisiana's job growth in 2005 is an anomaly due to the negative impact of hurricane damage but Minnesota is ranked #30 and has not suffered any natural disasters of any significant scale for decades other than a state legislature dominated by "tax and spend our way to Utopia" members such as Senator Larry Pogemiller who in 2005 proposed a new 11% state income tax bracket to lock in Minnesota as the highest taxed state in the USA. News flash to Senator Pogemiller -- such as tax is not an incentive to the entrepreneurs willing to create new jobs, no this is a punishment.

Instead let me call on Senator Pogemiller and his like-minded colleagues to retire from the state legislature to start their own small businesses so they can have an opportunity to "exploit the working class" -- I am confident that as entrepreneurs the Senator Pogemillers of the world will discover that they are the people beyond exploited by the government.

For more information on which Minnesota legislators help or hurt your economic well being please visit -- http://www.minnesotavotes.org/

Update your resume,

Todd