The Foundry

8 Responses to “The Green Jobs Fallacy”

1. Ed G on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   Ah yes, the magical free market. I’m sure that whole acid rain thing would have fixed itself if the government hadn’t gone meddling. And what a waste that interstate highway system is. Clearly that hasn’t benefited our economy since the bulldozers were turned off.

   Anyone who tells you that there is a simple answer to a complicated question is dumb or lying. I think for Mr. Stossel it’s the former.

2. len hrica on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   and i think obama and his ilk are incompetent/impotent/and of course lying….uva65

3. Mike L. Alpharetta, GA on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   Ed, Please put the Kool Aid down. Government has grown beyond its intended boundaries as defined by our founding documents. There are really only three legitimate responsibilities given to the federal government. 1. Protect the rights of the citizens. 2. Protect and defend the citizens from all enemies, foreign and domestic. 3. Regulate interstate commerce. All else remains with the states. Anything that is not relevant to those specific duties should be eliminated. Government is the problem…not the solution. What about Freddie Mac? What about Fannie Mae? What about Social Security? What about Medicare? What about Medicaid? What about the Post Office? What about Amtrak? What about agriculture subsidies? They are all broken and in ruins. When the government sticks its nose in the free market… it is looking for two things: Power and money, and the result is a broken or impeded free market. None of the above government enterprises runs efficiently and within budget. Government enables and encourages mediocrity or less in its DNA.

4. Thanks Mr. Stossel on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   Its not that government can’t do some good and even great things, but were going way over the edge and really even liberals are getting concerned with so much govt. waste and humongous deficits. I’m glad for commentators like Mr. Stossel, who are courageous enough not to duck when the pendulum swings towards them, they grab for it and hopefully push it just a bit to the right, maybe even a whole lot to the right, would be even better! Thanks so much Heritage.

5. SOwen on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   The free market does work, when the government gets itself out of it.
   People complain about the whole free market. Yet without the freemarket there wouldn’t have been automobiles, telephones, tv’s, video games…keep going.
   No automobiles the there would be no need for the interstate highway system.
   When the government gets out of the way and let’s the true government (We the People) to do what we do best then you have reasons for building new highways.
   Oh and by the way Ed who built the bulldozers that helped make the roads? The government? No the freemarket! Why? Because man saw a need and made a way to help!

6. Clayton Yendrey, Three Rivers, Texas on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   Ed,
   Stop and think – it is Obama that is presenting this as a simple solution – just let government fix it. And John Stossel is correct in how the market economy vs government run works.
   Acid/rain and the solution was not fixed by the government nor did the government design or identify the fix. The government did mandate emissions standards once a tie between coal fired emissions and acid rain had been verified. However, it was the market place that found the solution, and made it available.
   Stop and ask your self – exactly what is a green job? Where is it coming from? What is it replacing? Obama is telling because he can’t – it just makes a good slogan and makes the voters feel good. On a cost per btu of energy provided, non of the alternatives come close to being as economical as oil and gas, and many depend on products/technology of which oil/gas are the source materials. Oil/gas has to over $200/bbl from many of the alternatives to start to break even economically.
   Despite what politicians may say, there is no free ride.

7. Me on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   Bastiat’s broken window fallacy is particularly relevant today with all of the intervention that is taking place. It doesn’t state that the things that government does are necessarily bad, it just shows that it is not the BEST use of the resources. When a coercive monopoly meddles in anything, resources are moved away from where they otherwise would have gone – this can only occur to the detriment of consumers.

   Read Henry Hazlit’s ‘Economics In One Lesson’ when you can make time, it’s a very easy read and incredibly enlightening.

8. Brian, LA on September 8th, 2009 at 12:04pm said:

   Investing in green tech, in the green economy and energy efficiency as a nation is a national security investment that protects the rights and freedoms of our citizens. Stossel is just wrong when he questions if it’s a good idea.

   As we increase our energy independence by reducing our dependence on carbon fuels and work to lead the world in proprietary green tech, the oil fields of the future, we are positioning ourselves to be leaders in the world as it will be 20-30 years from now, not trying to save a few bucks today and a few temp jobs in a dying industry. We need to prevent the defense of jobs in dying industry at the expense of growing and investing in creating them in growth industries.

   Stossel’s Broken Window theory is simplistic and faulty. If he breaks the window and the owner replaces it with an energy efficient window that will provide energy savings for the homeowner, reduced stress on the grid and support the green worker who built the energy efficient window, and the industry continues to grow and moves the market toward green innovation and progress, then it’s not a zero-sum game. An investment has been made. The ball has been moved forward. Our country will be better off in the long run.

   Green energy and green jobs are a good idea.