Active Users:642 Time:15/11/2024 09:28:23 PM
Not everything the government does is a net drain, bud - Edit 2

Before modification by Jragghen at 13/10/2009 06:49:19 PM

Government jobs are a net drain on the economy.


Food stamps being the quintessential example.

Every $1 spent on food stamps adds $1.73 spending in the general economy.

Oh wait, that's not a drain. It's a stimulus. My mistake.

As you noted, government spending on things like transportation and safety allows for a market to even exist, and I don't doubt that the money which was spent on those transportation methods to allow for faster transferal of goods allowed for companies to hire more people, gain more revenue, pay all those people more, and raise the standard of living far more than the cost of the roads themselves.

You know, there's billionaires who think we're not being taxed enough, too. Just because this guy doesn't have money doesn't mean he's right, and the quotes in the OP implied to me that he's a person who's good with his money, but who is describing an overly simplistic perspective on the role of government in order to protect his own revenue stream.

Know what place is a libertarian's paradise? Somalia. But you don't see all our entrepreneurs and libertarians going there because government has a purpose, contrary to what they always like to say.

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