For four years the politicians, economists and the media have been talking about creating more jobs to replace the one's that have been lost during this great recession.

I've been amazed how so many people have been so blind, and how they seem to agree upon a definition of the problem that's so distorted.

It's really very simple.  These jobs have'nt been lost at all, and they never were.  No, they have just been moved.  Moved to a place where there is no EPA, and where there is no social net, and where there is no NLRB, and where there is no OSHA.  

 

Who is going to be the first one to make the case in public for a sensible change to the definition of our problem?

The solution is very simple.  Let the State Department study the economic and political status of each 3rd world country, and assign a percent value representing the cost of those government programs that are missing.  They should create a cost factor for an EPA, social net, NLRB & OSHA, and then there should be a corresponding tarrif for all products from that country to level the playing field.  The tarrif monies could be given to the United Nations for development in these same nations.

 

Tarrif is not a 4 letter word when it represents safety for foreign workers.

 

Fair is Fair, I say.  We'll never compete with 3rd world countries who don't care about the environment, or their own workers, and it is silly and irresponsible for our leaders to think we can.

Everyone talks about how we're so good at creating jobs, as if we can pour more water into the leaky pail faster than the water is pouring out through the holes in the bottom.  It's now easier than ever to move a production job to the Far East, and we are doing nothing about it, and it makes no sense.

Our government is blaming businesses for not creating jobs fast enough instead of doing their own job of protecting us from foreign economic abuse, and we are suffering.

 

So, my hope for 2012 is that somebody begins talking about the problem in terms that make sense.