High quality government spending

• Eddie
• 15 years ago
• Categories: economy, employment, national/act government, wages, workers' rights
• Tags: recession

I suppose the Herald means for us to recoil in horror at the headline “$325,000 bill to save 57 jobs” but I’m fine with it.

Look at the alternative – 57 families taking a major hit to their incomes, with all the consequences for health, education, crime, and family stability that we know unemployment brings.

Think about the cost to the government of 57 more people unemployed – all the lost income tax, about $7,000 a year on the average wage I think, and the expense of those that go on the dole cost at about $12,000 a year. The cost to the government alone of doing nothing was easily more than $325,000. That’s called efficient government spending.

If only the government was prepared to spend $325 million to save 57,000 jobs – we wouldn’t be facing an unemployment tsunami.