Unemployment: Can Google Show Us The Way Out?
Unemployment will be a huge hurdle for economic recovery for the foreseeable future. The current administration feels it'll take at least 10 years to reduce the current 10% unemployment level to 5% - where it was before the recession hit. When you consider that the more accurate estimate of unemployment should include those deemed to have "given up" looking for work, as well as those who've taken jobs that pay only a fraction of what they were earning before being laid off, you get a number somewhere between 16% and 22%.
The point here is simply this: reducing unemployment won't be easy. Of course, more economic growth would help. More business growth, more jobs. So we're always interested in any ideas to help business growth.
We're not talking about the usual "we'll grow ourselves out of this" schemes. They typically consists of some eternal optimist saying that if we cut taxes and let the free market do its magic, we'll be back to low unemployment and high growth rates in no time. It's a nice idea, but the proposals we've read are missing clear, specific assumptions that show exactly how lower taxes and the free market working its magic will really do the trick.
A fellow named Robert Litan gave it a shot in the March 8th Wall Street Journal. He wants us to support a bipartisan bill by John Kerry (Dem, MA) and Richard Lugar (Rep, IN) that will allow foreign entrepreneurs to get a Visa if they qualify for $250,000 in "angel" and venture capital financing and they hire an American. Litan likes this idea because Sergey Brin, a Russian immigrant, was the founder of Google, along with an American, Larry Page.
Litan feels more companies like Google will help overcome the unemployment problem. At first, I thought it sounded good. But then I realized the bill immediately starts telling the entrepreneur how to run his business. Forcing someone to hire anyone immediately gets government bureaucracy into the mix. And the government's sticky fingers have a way of gumming up the works when it comes to small businesses and start-ups.
He also wants to change immigration law to entice entrepreneurs to come to the U.S. - as long as they hire a non-family member who's an American. I know entrepreneurs who've come to the U.S. and started businesses. The last thing they'd do is hire a perfect stranger right away as they were starting up. If they were able to hire anyone, they'd start with their family, and probably friends from their own national or ethnic group - you know, people they know and could trust. Doesn't that seem normal and natural.
Besides, I don't think Sergey Brin got any special breaks when he started Google. I don't think he had to hire non-immigrants, immigrants, or anyone else.
So in the end, I've concluded this bill not only won't help, but it will just expand the government's involvement in the economy even more than it is now.
Even if you give these sorts of schemes the benefit of the doubt - that they're proposed by well-meaning politicians who just want to help reduce unemployment - you've got to wonder why they think they've got the experience or skills to "fix" unemployment.
The one thing the "let the free market work its magic" people get is that, in the long run, we don't need the government running the economy. Let's give them credit for that.
The point here is simply this: reducing unemployment won't be easy. Of course, more economic growth would help. More business growth, more jobs. So we're always interested in any ideas to help business growth.
We're not talking about the usual "we'll grow ourselves out of this" schemes. They typically consists of some eternal optimist saying that if we cut taxes and let the free market do its magic, we'll be back to low unemployment and high growth rates in no time. It's a nice idea, but the proposals we've read are missing clear, specific assumptions that show exactly how lower taxes and the free market working its magic will really do the trick.
A fellow named Robert Litan gave it a shot in the March 8th Wall Street Journal. He wants us to support a bipartisan bill by John Kerry (Dem, MA) and Richard Lugar (Rep, IN) that will allow foreign entrepreneurs to get a Visa if they qualify for $250,000 in "angel" and venture capital financing and they hire an American. Litan likes this idea because Sergey Brin, a Russian immigrant, was the founder of Google, along with an American, Larry Page.
Litan feels more companies like Google will help overcome the unemployment problem. At first, I thought it sounded good. But then I realized the bill immediately starts telling the entrepreneur how to run his business. Forcing someone to hire anyone immediately gets government bureaucracy into the mix. And the government's sticky fingers have a way of gumming up the works when it comes to small businesses and start-ups.
He also wants to change immigration law to entice entrepreneurs to come to the U.S. - as long as they hire a non-family member who's an American. I know entrepreneurs who've come to the U.S. and started businesses. The last thing they'd do is hire a perfect stranger right away as they were starting up. If they were able to hire anyone, they'd start with their family, and probably friends from their own national or ethnic group - you know, people they know and could trust. Doesn't that seem normal and natural.
Besides, I don't think Sergey Brin got any special breaks when he started Google. I don't think he had to hire non-immigrants, immigrants, or anyone else.
So in the end, I've concluded this bill not only won't help, but it will just expand the government's involvement in the economy even more than it is now.
Even if you give these sorts of schemes the benefit of the doubt - that they're proposed by well-meaning politicians who just want to help reduce unemployment - you've got to wonder why they think they've got the experience or skills to "fix" unemployment.
The one thing the "let the free market work its magic" people get is that, in the long run, we don't need the government running the economy. Let's give them credit for that.
Comments