John Stossel: The Green Jobs Fallacy

Clip from ABC's 20/20 http://blogs.abcnews.com/johnstossel/2009/08/new-video-the-green-jobs-fallacy...

Politicians keep telling us they want to create Green jobs. It sounds good, but its nonsense. I have a new video column up on my webpage on that. The bottom line: If green jobs are a good idea, they will just happen. The give and take of free market competition will provide them. We wont need government to suck up more of our tax dollars to create them. Whatever Green jobs really are.

More at www.theminorityreportblog.com

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Green Jobs Fallacy
• green jobs
• Green Jobs Nonsence

[zed6952]

21 people are financially illiterate.

[ramrants]

@fububalla you have a serous misunderstanding of how companies make decisions. Companies don't make decisions on the path least resistance, they make decisions based on the most economically efficient.

[fububalla]

@SippinonMickeys how many false statements can you put in one blurb.

1) the govt is wasting billions but no on green/alternative energy. Just in the energy sector alone over 40 Billion a year in OLD ASS oil and gas subsidies. How much in green energy. 6 billion a year max - do the research.

2) Where the F is your proof that "the world" is backing away from wind and solar?? Give me stats

3) talk about plundering. Oil is $100 a barrel, 40 billion in subs

take ur silliness home

[SippinonMickeys]

@fububalla If 'YOU' build it and it turns out that it works & is profitable the free market will indeed see this and act accordingly. Problem is the government is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars and the free market has seen exactly how profitable it is. Even the rest of the world is backing away from wind & solar, but not the US. Nope. Why? Because the electorate is allowing itself to be plundered by the politicians in office on a lark.

[SippinonMickeys]

@Jimboman300 Yes indeed. Like Solyndra, Amonix, Beacon Power, Evergreen, SpectraWatt, AES Eastern, Enerl, etc... The list will continue on and on costing billions on top of billions of wasted taxpayer dollars & end up with jack squat. Our friends to the north Canada's PM Harper has been proven smarter for not jumping on that green bandwagon. Germany is poised to end it, the UK is beginning to rise against it, as are other European countries. Green pushed by government is a fiasco.

[fububalla]

@ramrants my full quote was "business, unless specialized, will seek the path of least resistance to profits." we are talkign about the same thing buddy.

And maybe I should add that this path is often to short term profits and often neglects its effect on other industries. Some companies of course do take a longer term approach but most do not in regards to profit. That's why you have quaterly swings in the market.

[gmakepiece]

@fububalla Balls.

[fububalla]

@Jimboman300 Another thing is business, unless specialize, will seek the path of least resistance to profits. This is an extremely short term view which has jeopardized the world economy already.

Government's are designed to take a more comprehensive/long term view concerning national investments.

[fububalla]

@Jimboman300 Are you equating green jobs/alternative energy jobs as foolish investments (the broken glass in stossel's dickish analysis?)

I guess if you google Google's headquarters you will see all those bad investments they made that are providing a SUSTAINABLE electricity source for that facility

The reason govt makes bad investments is lobbying/interests groups that overpower the will of the people which happens to be right on many policies fronts (not all of course.)

[Jimboman300]

@fububalla You miss the important part. If a business invests in something foolish they go out of business. If the government makes a foolish investment everyone suffers not just the fools who made the investment. The reason government investments are so often disasterous is because the things they invest in are usually things the private sector avoids because they are a waste of money