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Letter: Stimulus needed time to kick in

The Columbian
Published: July 19, 2012, 5:00pm

Thomas Sowell, in his July 10 column, “Obama performs with no net when he talks job creation,” states two fallacies.

He states that when government creates jobs, it takes money out of the private sector. This isn’t true. Workers use that money immediately, pumping it back into the private sector by buying food, clothing and shelter, thus stimulating those industries.

The other fallacy regards the idea that regulations make businesses reluctant to hire. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2011 found only 1,119 instances of layoffs due to regulations, but a whopping 144,746 instances of layoffs due to poor business demand.

Finally, Sowell asks how Obama can claim much job growth while his critics point to millions of jobs lost? The answer is simple: In 2009, there were about 5 million jobs lost while the Great Recession was still in effect. However, in the third quarter of that year, an additional 1.6 million people were employed in the U.S. because of Obama’s stimulus, (according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

And from 2010 through June of this year, 3.75 million net jobs were created. So, while some claim Obama’s had a net job loss during his term, that’s only if you count the first half of 2009, before his policies had a chance to kick in.

Patrick Little

Vancouver

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