For the millionth time: Gov’t Does Not Create Jobs

In this Washington Time piece, Jacob Sullum reminds us how empty Obama's pledge to "create" millions of jobs is. A sample:

"Mr. Obama also sees regulation as an engine of economic growth. He says requiring that "25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025 has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs." Even if true, that projection tells us nothing about the advisability of such a mandate. If the government required that 25 percent of cars be replaced by horse-drawn carriages, that also would create certain jobs, while destroying or forestalling others."

It is simply not possible for government to "create" jobs. It can only use force to extract resources from the private (i.e. voluntary exchange) market and divert them to politically favored uses that are typically less productive. Either Senator Obama is too ideologically blinded to realize this basic truism, or he is misleading the public to secure votes. Normally I would guess the latter, but in this case I'm not so sure.