Politicians always talk about creating jobs. It is a borderline obsession, especially in these troubled times. Their fixation is an old one – a really old one.
How old? The Roman historian Suetonius wrote of the emperor Vespasian in 117 A.D.(!):
To a mechanical engineer, who promised to transport some heavy columns to the Capitol at small expense, he gave no mean reward for his inventions, but refused to make use of it, saying: “You must let me feed my poor commons.” (Lives of the Caesars, Book VIII, Chapter XVIII)
Vespasian made a common mistake. Had he used the labor saving device, he would have had his columns and another project besides. Instead, he got only the columns. Saving labor doesn’t reduce employment. It creates new employment opportunities.
Today’s politicians are getting set to make the same old mistake with their own public works programs.
So it goes.
Inertia Wins! 