Job losses by county

This interactive map of job losses by county over the last few years is sobering.   Add in a bit of math and it becomes even more interesting. “Rick Mills from C-Biz pointed out that if one took the most optimistic number of jobs created – 4 million – and divided the total stimulus money allocated into that number, one ends up spending $200,000 for each job.”

If the job is a 40 year job based on sound economic principles, $200,000 is actually not bad. However, most of these jobs won’t continue once the stimulus money is removed. They are, simply, communally-supported jobs, not free market jobs. This is the “business” model that collapsed the Soviet Union. 

This is why, in California, Proposition 23 is on the fall ballot. Proposition 23 calls for California to “suspend” AB 32, the California climate change bill, until unemployment is lower and we can afford to lose more orange and yellow and purple jobs in the creation of “green” jobs at an estimated cost of $500,000 each of taxpayer dollars!