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I wrote: So Willie; set me straight over here. It's policy that creates jobs?

Your response: Policy can effect the creation of jobs. If you do not believe that is true, then you are denying the underlying premise of supply side economics.

Yeah, I can see that you didn't take any liberties with my statement (LOL). I will not deny that policy can - and to be sure, does - affect the creation of jobs. But, I will deny that in a free society it is the policies that are the underlying premise of supply side economics. No, it is the entrepreneurial nature of risk takers that bring their goods and services to market to meet a consumer demand (perceived or not) that creates the jobs.

As far as customer service:
I bought a Dell laptop two years ago for $1200 and spoke to an American voice when I ordered it. Six months later - when my motherboard fried because I spilled wine on it - I spoke to someone who was probably from India...there was a language barrier to overcome, that's for certain, and I was a little disappointed.

Today, I couldn't even purchase that same Dell laptop if I wanted to. Why? Well, it's because they do not make newer laptop computers with processors that slow any longer (MHz) and and with so little RAM. I also probably couldn't get one with just a DVD player that wasn't also a combo CD Writer either. And you know what, the price for one of these better computers is much lower now then when I forked over my twelve hundred bucks.

I'm sorry that the the consumer's search for better value and product has put an American out of his/her phone answering job. Perhaps with the right drive and determination they can do something even more meaningful. But I guess that's just too much to ask of someone. After all unemployment "benefits" don't last nearly long enough, huh?

You wrote: So Willie; set me straight over here. It's policy that creates jobs?

I wrote: Policy can effect the creation of jobs. If you do not believe that is true, then you are denying the underlying premise of supply side economics.

You wrote: will not deny that policy can - and to be sure, does - affect the creation of jobs. But, I will deny that in a free society it is the policies that are the underlying premise of supply side economics. No, it is the entrepreneurial nature of risk takers that bring their goods and services to market to meet a consumer demand (perceived or not) that creates the jobs.

While I agree that in the end, it is ultimately the entrepreneur that creates the job, government policies do have an effect on the job creation environment.

I think of it like farming. Soil conditions (or policy) greatly influence what can be grown and the bounty of the yield. Can a fart mer go against bad soil conditions and grow things in bad conditions? Of course. But more likely, that farmer will simply abandon the bad soil and put his efforts elsewhere. Thus, the policies enacted by the government are quite important for the "farming" of jobs.

One wonders if you would be minimizing the role of policy if we were discussing tort reform, environmental regulation or tax policy. It is only with free trade that policy seems to become irrelevant.

And as to the loss of phone answering jobs, which you seem to deem inconsequential, these are the type of entry level positions that once taught teens the first principles of a work ethic, allowed folks to work their way through school or allowed folks on welfare to transition into productivity.

The results of those jobs vanishing, either through out-sourcing or the in-sourcing of foreign laborers, is apparent today. Teens now turn their noses up at jobs that have had their wages pushed to an artificial low. Students get government subsidized loans. People do stay on unemployment longer. None of these results are good for fostering a strong work ethic in those who most need to learn it but instead show government as being the source of support. Support for such results is an odd form of conservatism.