http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Betsy/Where%20We%20Live%2006-12-2012.mp3
Politicians often promise to create new jobs if you elect them...but who really “creates” jobs anyway?
I mean, as a business owner, you know you’re doing well if you’ve got enough business to actually hire more people to do work. But the motivation of the business is to create “profits” for yourself, your family, maybe your shareholders...not simply to put people to work.
So a politician who touts his or her credentials as a “job creator” is usually talking about being a “profit creator” who sometimes hires more people - and sometimes lays people off.
Meanwhile, some say the government can “create” jobs with stimulus spending - others say the only role of government is to create an environment “conducive” to job creation...Lower taxes, less regulation...that sorta thing.
Today, Where We Live - we’ll try to pull apart how jobs really are created. Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money explored this idea last year for This American Life...we’ll get his thoughts, along with those of Dan Haar of the Hartford Courant and some small business owners.