Three Million Imaginary Jobs II

Following up on an earlier posting about the Obama Administration’s “jobs created or saved” metric, I’d like to call attention to Greg Mankiw’s posting from yesterday entitled “The CEA’s Impossible Job”.  I also learned the following Latin phrase from this article: Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Also, the following two postings about the Obama Administration’s “jobs created or saved” metric which date back to November 2009 are worth a second look:

  • In the Battle for Stimulus Jobs, Shoe Store Owner Tells War Story, by Louise Radnofsky (published November 2, 2009

Here’s a practical, step-by-step guide to “creating or saving” 9 jobs for only $889! 

  • Stimulus and the Jobless Recovery, by Ed Lazear (published November 1, 2009)

“Jobs ‘created or saved’ is meaningless. What matters is net job gain or loss, and that means the unemployment rate.”

Assorted Links (7/16/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Kimberley A. Strassel: About That Financial Reform ‘Victory’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kim Strassel writes that Dodd-Frank may backfire on Democrats.”

Andy Kessler: The Yo-Yo Market and You – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Andy Kessler writes that the stock market will suffer dizzy spells until government policies return to some semblance of stability.”

Peggy Noonan: Youth Has Outlived Its Usefulness – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“American politics is desperately in need of adult supervision, argues Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal.”

Charles Krauthammer – Obama’s next act

www.washingtonpost.com

“I have a warning for Republicans: Don’t underestimate Barack Obama.”

Lasting Inequality – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“Income inequality throughout the 20th century…The evidence shows that, although there have been large absolute reductions in the level of infant and child mortality rates and also a reduction in the absolute levels of differences across socioeconomic groups, relative inequality has not diminished over the 20th century.”

Hillary Clinton for President – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

The secretary of state could mount a formidable challenge to Obama, writes Pete du Pont.”

Evangelicals Try Stand-Up by David Skeel – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In his Houses of Worship column, David Skeel writes about a new effort called Veritas Riff, which teaches evangelical leaders improvisation techniques to make them into more effective public intellectuals.”

Op-Ed Columnist – The Gospel of Mel Gibson – NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

“The taped tirade of the former Braveheart is evidence of our modern infatuation with ourselves.”

Three Million Imaginary Jobs – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the White House and Christina Romer are still claiming that the stimulus worked despite the high unemployment.”

The White House’s claim that the $862 billion economic stimulus of February 2009 “created or saved” between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs can’t be taken seriously. While the “jobs created or saved” statistic is politically clever, it is based upon a “what would have happened” counterfactual scenario that, by definition, is neither measurable nor refutable.

Senate VIP Loans Mount – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“U.S. senators or Senate staff members received 30 loans—far more than had previously been known—under a controversial lending program at Countrywide Financial that provided cut-rate terms to favored borrowers.”

FT.com / Companies / Banks – Failures of the Dodd-Frank Act

www.ft.com

“Anachronistic in parts right from the day of its legislation …when read in its full glory, the 2,000 plus page script falls flat on at least three important counts, even ignoring its somewhat misplaced – likely populist – diversion into consumer protection issues. First, the Act does not sufficiently discourage individual firms from putting the system at risk…Second, the falls into the familiar trap of regulating by form rather than function…Third, implicit government guarantees for large parts of the shadow banking sector remain unaddressed.”

The Estate Tax’s Perverse Incentives – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“Will the estate tax return next year?”

Do High Incomes Make CEO’s Mean?

online.wsj.com

Possibly they do…

When Debt Flies Off the Charts

www.american.com

“Under one realistic future scenario, the nation’s debt becomes so large that Congressional Budget Office models break down.”

Gregg Sherrill: Speaking Up for American Capitalism – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Tenneco CEO Gregg Sherrill writes that business has taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House and has for the most part remained silent.”