Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Does Reducing Unemployment through Government Spending Boost the Economy?

The Expanding Pool of Savings-Not Declining Unemployment-Is the Key for Economic Growth

  • The key driver of economic growth is an expanding pool of savings
  • Fixing unemployment without addressing the issue of savings will not increase economic growth
  • An enhanced and expanded infrastructure permits an increase in the production of final goods and services

Unhampered Labor Market and Unemployment

  • Unemployment can be fixed relatively easy if the labor market were free from government tampering
  • In an unhampered labor market, any individual that wants to work can find a job at a going wage for his skills
  • Monetary pumping by the central bank that is supposedly aimed at helping workers improve their living standards achieves the exact opposite
  • Loose monetary policy undermines the pool of savings
  • Workers productivity comes under pressure and their ability to command higher wages weakens

Is Fixing Unemployment Cost-Free?

  • Some economists believe that the lowering of unemployment is going to be cost-free given that the unemployed individuals are idle
  • Funding is not about money as such but about savings
  • To maintain their life and well-being, people require final consumer goods and services, not money
  • Money only helps facilitate trade among producers-it does not directly generate any real goods

The Fallacy of Insufficient Demand

  • There is never insufficient demand
  • An individual's demand is constrained by his ability to produce goods, and the more goods an individual can produce enables him to demand more things
  • If a producer wants to succeed, they must produce goods and services in line with what other producers require
  • No government and central bank tricks can make it possible to increase consumers' effective demand

Conclusion

  • A reduction in unemployment is not the key factor for economic growth. The heart of economic growth is the expanding pool of savings

https://mises.org/wire/does-reducing-unemployment-through-government-spending-boost-economy 

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