aemeijers wrote:
On 8/26/2011 5:53 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
(snip)

The amount of money government spends "creating jobs" is just
throwing money at the problem. The most effective way our
government could create jobs would be to only spend government money
on American made products and legal American workers.

While I mostly agree with you in principle, I'm afraid that ship has
long since sailed. A whole lot of what the government buys is no
longer made in this country, period. The factories aren't even THERE
anymore. Congress did pass the so-called 'Buy America' act several
years back which tried to require what you advocate, but I'm not sure
they even try to enforce it any more. Try to buy a computer (for
example) that isn't mainly China or Pacific-rim sourced. And the
gummint buys a Whole Lotta computers.

Besides which, the concept is flawed. Buyers should be able to get the best
value for their needs, irrespective of its origin. In the case of, say,
China, we (individuals or governments) buy computers from them because that
product is the best value for the price. They, in turn, buy stuff from us
(wheat, airplanes, Hello Kitty products) because they, in turn, get the best
value.

Artificial restraints of trade ("Buy American", tariffs, taxes, "prevailing
wage" rules, etc.) and various forms of protectionism are an overall drag on
the economy.

In his book, "An Inquiry Into the Wealth of Nations," Adam Smith illustrated
a cheese-wine dilemma. France made excellent wine and mediocre cheese. Just
the reverse was true for Italy. France instituted a severe tariff on
imported cheese to protect its domestic cheese-makers. Italy did the same
with wine. The consumers in France ended up with ghastly cheese while the
imbibers in Italy had to drink terrible wine.

The only people who benefited were the makers of indifferent cheese in
France and the incompetent vintners in Italy.