Saving Jobs

Oddly, using Government money to stimulate the economy by paying a company to keep jobs is considered OK by conservatives, but giving that same money to poor people isn't.

Now both create a stimulus to the economy and both are Government handouts.  The difference is that the company is a profit making enterprise and the additional profits from the Government handouts turn into shareholder value.  Yes the people working get paid and spend money in the economy which are good things and in general saving jobs is a good thing.  It just sort hypocritical for a conservative to be willing to take taxpayer money and give it to another private enterprise since that's one of the main things they object to.

Now I'm in favor of Government stimulating the economy and think it is an appropriate way to spend some Government money.  I also think getting industry to  pick up some of the cost is also a good thing.  However, infrastructure projects that also benefit the general population who are paying taxes seems better to me than subsidizing private shareholders.

Private enterprise has an obligation to its owners which in the case of publicly held companies turns out to be shareholders.  So where they locate a job has to depend on what location is most profitable.  If the math says the profit would be greater moving jobs to Mexico, that is what will happen.  In fact, failure to protect stockholders interests is something that can result in lawsuits over failure to exercise fiduciary responsibility.

What this tells e is that since the fundamental math wasn't changed long term, those jobs will eventually move, once the coast is clear if the economics don't change.

Now, economics tells us that finding the most efficient solution is ultimately the best solution since it maximizes resource use and benefits society as a whole. Of course society as a whole is not any particular individual who can be devastated by an economic decision.

What then is the Government's role?  In a free market economy its to let the market forces work.  As Americans we generally believe in that.  Now in addition, there are things Government can do to help displaced workers adjust via unemployment insurance, health care and re-education.  Ultimately however, the displaced workers are responsible to adapt and develop new skills.

The alternative is a Government controlled economy or planned economy which is more of a socialist or communist approach. It did fit into National Socialism, which believes in subjugating everything to State control with cooperation from industry.

We seem to have started down that path.