I was expecting a different complaint from an economic publication. From an economics viewpoint I found the most alarming, and sophomoric, thing said was the nonsense of rebuilding thousands of homes in order to satisfy the environmentalists would produce “millions of jobs”. That is truly, truly stupid and totally leftist.
It assumes all of us are here just for the benefit of the whims of the those who run government.
Economics is about how a society allocates resources. Most of these resources are scarce or limited. When vast amounts of resources are allocated by the government by using tax monies or subsidies (our money), then that means there are fewer resources left for discretionary purposes.
Thus, when the government decides that vast sums are to be used for rebuilding perfectly good buildings, then there will be less resources for building new buildings or other things that could be done with those vast sums.
So when Joe says millions of jobs will be created, then that immediately says that there will be millions of people doing useless work when they could have been gainfully employed to provide things that you and I wanted to buy or services that you and I wanted and in many cases, needed.
BTW: This is NOT related to JFK’s observation that a rising tide lifts all ships. JFK was taking a swipe at the liberal notion that all wealth is fixed and anyone who acquires wealth has done so at the expense of someone else.
Anyone who believes that rebuilding uselessly is beneficial because it creates millions of jobs will probably buy in to the idea that we should send hordes of people out into the streets to destroy signs, burn down businesses, and create general havoc. That also, “generates jobs” to rebuild and replenish!
Oh, wait, the Democrats are already doing that!