WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR JOB CREATION?

by Jim Fitzgerald | 8, Add your Comment | Sep 5, 2010

The New York Times headline reads: Slumping Economy Jeopardizes Democrats Election Prospects. The author of the article went on to comment, Its no wonder that jobs who can create them, who is to blame for the losses are nearly all that candidates [in Ohio] discuss. Of course this is the discussion taking place nationwide.

Heres the interesting thing about this article. It suggests that, regardless of ones opinion of the government, there is a clear expectation that the government is responsible for job creation. Government holds the key to prosperity and growth and the failure to create jobs is a significant result of failed federal and state policies. The corollary is that failed government policies are, also, responsible for job losses. That is, businesses are pawns of government, marionettes manipulated by the government. Businesses cannot grow unless governments adopt the correct combination of policies. In some quarters, that means eliminating corporate taxes. In others it means granting tax credits. That is, job creation is not possible unless business is given the freedom from any responsibility it may have to contribute to the very society that makes their success possible. There seems to be no expectation that businesses, currently sitting on over one trillion dollars in cash, have any patriotic responsibility to actively participate in our economic revival. The expectation that government is responsible for job creation seems to fly in the face of most political pundits, especially conservative commentators. Whereas they tell us to vote against Democrats if we want job creation, they also tell us government is too intrusive and should be downsized to decrease its influence in our lives. The Republican Party still believes that less regulatory control of business is the key to growth and prosperity. They still have the assumption that businesses, and the free market, will regulate themselves and stay in balance while producing growth. Since the prevailing opinion is that the current lack of job generation is the result of failed Obama policies, then the tragic loss of 15 million jobs over the last four years lies at the feet of failed Bush administration policies. Are we to throw out the Democrats because they do not create jobs and reimplement the policies that cost us 15 million jobs? Assuming, of course, that you believe government is in the business of creating and losing jobs. The Bush administration took a laissez faire attitude toward regulation enforcement, in keeping with conservative policy. Laissez faire describes an environment in which transactions between private

parties are free from stateintervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies. This hands off policy appears to have been the root of our economic collapse. For job creation, we need to focus on business, not the government. Obama has been struggling to keep the economy afloat until businesses decide to step back into the game. They have the money to create jobs. More hiring means more people with money to spend and more growth. Businesses have to step up to the plate. We should not have the expectation that government must create jobs, especially if we rail against stimulus spending, believe government is too intrusive, and think government should be shrunk. If we resent governments role in the economy then we must focus on business and hold companies accountable for their role. The greater the expectation of government, the larger and more intrusive government will be. Blame business or government, take your pick. If you want small government, you must pick business.

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JIM FITZGERALD
A clinically trained psychologist, Jim had a private practice in Cobb County for almost 30 years. For the last ten years he has been a Professor of Psychology at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT, but lives in the North Georgia Mountains.

overnment priority: Creating decent jobs

Update on progress and achievements for 2012/13 Budget for jobs The drive to create jobs Government initiatives Government programmes supporting job creation Finding a job What does Government say about job creation? What do academics say about job creation? Documents

Update on progress and achievements for 2012/13

Employment growth
Employment grew by 327 000 (or 2,5%) by the last quarter of 2012. Since the first quarter of 2011, employment has grown for seven consecutive quarters. Employment in the informal sector increased by 112 000, while formal sector jobs increased by 92 000 and jobs in the agricultural sector by 23 000 in the third quarter of 2012.

Job creation
An allocation of R1,4 billion was made to the Community Work Programme for 2012/13 and out of 171 500 work opportunities to be provided, 114 382 (67%) had been provided by the end of October. Of the total number of work opportunities provided, 71% were allocated to women, 52% to young people and 0,78% to people with disabilities. The Department of Communications is implementing a digital migration policy which will result in more than 23 500 jobs created in the manufacturing value chain including installers and warehousing, logistics and repairs. It has also established the e-Skills Institute to address the current shortage of and future need for ICT-related skills in South Africa and to ensure that South Africa is an e-literate society by 2030, as articulated in the New Development Plan. 5% of the reserves of the Unemployment Insurance Fund have been set aside for social responsibility investment, with a focus on job creation. The Compensation Fund has made a similar allocation for investment in the healthcare industry.

Empowering the youth

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) recorded the following youth empowerment statistics, arising from its interventions:

Young people receiving non-financial interventions Loans disbursed through micro finance, group and SME lending Loans issued to micro enterprises, groups and SMEs Number of jobs created Number of business-support consultancy vouchers issued to young people Value of business opportunities sourced and accessed by young people Number of youth who served their communities through participation in the National Youth Service Number of youth accessing information through NYDA service delivery access points Number of NYDA information dissemination and access points
Source: NYDA, April 2009 to April 2011

106 147 R97,2 million 33 975 73 920 7 516 R193,7 million 138 990 2 066 151 205

The Chairperson of the Jobs Fund Investment Committee, Mr Frans Baleni, on 3 December 2012 announced the launch of the Job Fund's third call for funding proposals. The third call for proposals is a request for applications from initiatives in enterprise development and infrastructure. The Enterprise Development window looks for initiatives that develop innovative commercial approaches to long-term job creation in ways that combine profitability with high social impact. The Infrastructure window of the Job Fund will co-finance light infrastructure investment projects which are necessary to unlock job creation potential in a particular area. Read more [PDF]

The Department of Labour seeks to register 600 000 work seekers by 2013 using the Public Employment Services (PES). The Department plans to procure a set of buses that will roam the country to register job seekers, part of a campaign to ramp up and keep an up-to-date national data of job seekers. The Minister of Labour, Mrs Mildred Oliphant, introduced the concept of a Jobs Fair as a first step towards building a working relationship with social partners and providing a link between work seekers and potential job opportunities. Read more... The Mid-Term Review Report [PDF] released on 1 June 2012, indicates that although Government have not created sufficient jobs to meet the demand, significant advances have been made in the coordination of growth strategies, the New Growth Path and stakeholder agreements. Government has made progress with labour absorbing industrial development strategies in manufacturing, mineral products, procurement reform and the Jobs Fund.

Budget for jobs

Job creation remains a central priority of government, Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said in the Budget Speech for 2012. He provided an additional R4.8 billion over the 2012 MTEF period for the expanded public works programme, bringing its allocations to a total of R77.8 billion. The community work programme received an additional R3.5 billion, which gives it a total of R6.2 billion, enabling the number of people employed to increase to 332 000 in 2014/15 from 90 000 in March 2011. Working for Water and Working on Fire received an additional R1.1 billion (a total of R7.7 billion) providing for a total of 135 000 jobs over the medium term. The non-state sector programme received an additional R345 million (a total of R1.1 billion). The National Rural Youth Service Corps received an additional R200 million (a total of R900 million) over the next three years. R300 million was added to the arts and culture sector for job creation.

The National Development Plan, released in August 2012, proposes the creation of 11 million more jobs by 2030, among others by expanding the public works programme, lowering the cost of doing business and costs for households and helping match unemployed workers to jobs. In the mid-year Lekgotla of 26 - 28 July 2011, Cabinet adopted a 12 point implementation plan on job creation, within the ambit of the New Growth Path. This does not mean that other programmes will be halted. These areas are being singled out because they are urgent and effective.

The drive to create jobs

President Jacob Zuma announced in the State of the Nation Address for 2011 that all government departments will align their programmes with the job creation imperative. The provincial and local government spheres were requested to do the same, and 2011 was declared a year of job creation through meaningful economic transformation and inclusive growth. The 2011 Budget proposed a range of measures to accelerate employment creation over the period ahead, including R9 billion that has been set aside over the next three years for a Jobs Fund to co-finance innovative public- and private-sector employment projects. The Presidential Job Summit on 18 March 2011 created an opportunity to explore the role that the business sector can play in achieving key deliverables of governments job creation plans. This was followed by a Presidential Labour Summit on job creation on 19 April 2011. The parties involved agreed to take these issues forward. In the first phase of discussions, the focus will be on immediate deliverables that can be rapidly implemented, and to lay the basis for deeper dialogue on the systemic and structural issues that would need to be addressed to achieve the goal of five million new jobs by 2020. In the State of the Nation Address for 2011, President Zuma said that research had

indicated that we could create jobs in six priority areas: infrastructure development agriculture mining and beneficiation manufacturing the green economy tourism.

Government initiatives
The Gauteng Department of Social Development has launched the first of 20 job centres to address unemployment and poverty among the province's youth. Government established a jobs fund of R9 billion to finance new job-creation initiatives over the next three years. The Industrial Development Corporation has set aside R10 billion over the next five years for investment in such economic activities with a high jobs potential. This is done through its Gro-E Scheme. R20 billion in tax allowances or tax breaks will promote investments, expansions and upgrades in the manufacturing sector. For a project to qualify, the minimum investment must be R200 million for new projects, and R30 million for expansion and upgrades. Government will continue to provide financial and non-financial support to small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs), small scale agriculture as well as cooperatives. Government is considering merging the three agencies Khula, the SA MicroFinance Apex Fund and the IDCs small business funding into a single unit. This will cut administrative costs, avoid duplication and direct more resources to small business. The campaign to pay SMMEs on time, within 30 days, is proceeding well. The Department of Trade and Industrypayment hotline (0860 766 3729) received about 20 000 calls in the 2010/11 financial year, and the value of payments facilitated was R210 million. Other departments have launched their own initiatives, for example the Re Ya Patala (We Pay) initiative of the Department of Public Works (0800 782 542). In communications, television and radio signals will be converted from the analogue platform to the more advanced digital signal which will enable quality pictures and sound. This process will create jobs in manufacturing, packaging, distribution and installation. The bid to host the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope has already provided 800 construction job opportunities in the Northern Cape and will create a further 100 jobs in 2011/12. Through the combined programmes of business support, enterprise financing and labour intensive activities in the social sector, 1 355 new jobs were facilitated by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in 2011/12. A total of 2 039 young people were enrolled on the matric rewrite project and close to 5 000 were provided with career guidance. The Department of Public Works has set aside R210 million to hire and train unemployed people to fix potholes, build low bridges and maintain public garden spaces following the recent floods across the country.

Government has put President Jacob Zumas job-creation plans into action by announcing the creation of 120 000 permanent jobs in infrastructure development. The organisations that have been earmarked to create jobs include Eskom and the departments of water affairs and of environmental affairs. The Department of Transport will create 70 000 jobs in a R6,4-billion project to repair potholes. The project is part of a new labour-intensive roadmaintenance programme called S'hamba Sonke (walking together). A total of R22,3 billion will be spent between February 2011 and April 2014. Initiatives are under way to promote rural employment, such as the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC), and provide stepped up support for agricultural producers. Funding has been allocated in the 2011 budget for renewable energy, environmental protection and "green" economy initiatives. Details of a R5 billion youth development subsidy are set out in a discussion paper, Confronting youth unemployment: policy options [PDF]. The Community Work Programme (CWP) is an innovative offering from government to provide a job safety net for unemployed people of working age. This programme created more than 79 000 work opportunities up to the second quarter of 2011/12, benefitting women and the youth particularly from the poor rural families. In addition, the Human Settlements Programme created over 50 000 direct jobs, 4 653 indirect jobs and 21 446 induced job opportunities. The Minister of Labour approved various initiatives aimed at creating employment through training and re-skilling of workers in order to give them capacity to compete in the open economy. o Productivity South Africas social plan. Funds were committed in this financial year towards the Social Plan with the aim of saving a further 20 000 jobs. o Funding for the training of the Unemployed scheme . The scheme is aimed at developing skills in specific artisan trades with a view to trainees being eventually employed and possessing scarce skills. The training for the Unemployed scheme is done in partnership with the various sector education and training authorities (SETAs). Vuk'uzenzele has a regular section with employment news.

Government programmes supporting job creation

Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) - provides poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed. EPWP includes the Home-Based Community Care and Food for Waste Programmes. The New Growth Path (NGP) - aimed at enhancing growth, employment creation and equity. the dti provides financial support to qualifying companies in various sectors of the economy. Financial support is offered for various economic activities, including manufacturing, business competitiveness, export development and market access, as well as foreign direct investment. Finance for Small Businesses o Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd o South African Micro-Finance Apex Fund o Technology for Sustainable Livelihoods o Registering Your Business Working for Water - eradicates invasive alien vegetation to conserve water and

the environment, providing jobs and training to approximately 20 000 people per annum. Working on Fire is a multi-partner organisation focused on integrated fire management and veld and wild fire fighting, combined with the need to create jobs and develop skills. Working for Wetlands uses wetland rehabilitation as a vehicle for job creation, skills development, and the wise use of wetlands. Small Medium Enterprise Development - a grant programme offering financial help to tourism-related projects. Tourism Enterprise Development - a grant-making, training and on-going assistance programme. The South African Decent Work Country programme - through this programme, the International Labour Organisationand government, organised business, organised labour and the community constituency give support to initiatives aimed at promoting the decent work agenda.

Finding a job
For every job available, you will always have to compete with other job-seekers. This information should help you to find a job, prepare you for the interview and starting the job. Read more...

What does government say about job creation?

Read the speeches and statements for 2012 Read the speeches and statements for 2011

What do academics say about job creation?

Econ3x3 is a newly created web forum for critical debate on unemployment and employment, income distribution and inclusive growth in South Africa. It publishes concise, accessible, policy relevant research-based contributions and expert commentaries. It is an initiative of the Research Project on Employment, Income Distribution and Inclusive Growth, which is based at SALDRU at the University of Cape Town and supported by the National Treasury.

Resolved Question
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Does a government have a moral responsibility to provide each citizen with a job?
If not, why not? If so, why and is providing such a job at a minimum wage level sufficient to meet your standard?
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The government has the moral responsibility to ensure that the economy is managed in such a way that there are enough jobs available, whether in the private or public sector, for those who need them. In addition, such jobs should pay wages, and have terms and conditions which allow jobholders to live a dignified lifestyle, without having to work excessively long hours, or take second jobs, or rely on benefits, to get by. In the UK, the minimum wage is far too low to achieve this, and should be set at two thirds of average male earnings, or the European decency threshold, whichever is the greatest The problem with the way in which our current minimum wage works, is that too many employers across a wide range of industries, implement it as the norm, which leads to people having to work 60 hours a week plus, in order to get a living wage.
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Other Answers (11)

JZD Unless the govt employs you directly (like a civil servant) how can they have a moral duty to offer you a job in the private sector? They have no ability to get you a job in the private sector. And why should the govt. employ you if they don't need an employee or if you do not have the qualifications to get the job. The Govt recognises the necessity to have some basic level of income which is what the benefit system is there for. The minimum wage is deigned to avoid exploitation. Source(s):

I'm a lawyer o o
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shevek_v Morality and government in a capitalist economy are total strangers. To be able provide each citizen with a job requires a command economy - the antithesis of what we are supposed to have now - a free market economy. Within a free market economy a certain level of unemployment is necessary for the functioning of the system as a means of keeping labour costs down. In the current economic system morality is subordinated to the exigencies of making profits. As we have seen with the so-called credit crunch the interests of shareholders, bankers and financiers take precedence over everything else. The Coalition's efforts to cut public spending without regard to the consequences for ordinary working people, the vulnerable, the aged and the poor are just one example of the lack of morality that is built into the elitist socioeconomic system that holds sway over global society. o o o
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eye welcome their hate Yes, the government is responsible to provide us with jobs because: 1) We are the government, which is to say government provision of jobs is simply a conscious decision to organize ourselves as an inclusive cooperative society. 2) The only time we ever do not have 'jobs' is when others in our society consciously decide to exclude us from participation, so philosophically speaking, the only way to practice 'individual' 'responsibility' for our personal employment is to commence with socially enforced exclusion. If you are going to prevent me from supporting myself then you are morally responsible to provide me with an alternative, otherwise you are simply committing something along the lines of murder. 3) Yes, not only is the government morally responsible to include us in society but responsible to do it at sufficient level as well. If your plan for my inclusion to put me to work on an allowance of food supplies that will starve me to death then your plan is essentially murder. The organized society that accommodates individual participatory exclusion along with punitive conditions for those it excludes is a society that is essentially murdering those citizens it finds by some process 'unworthy'. o o o
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RICHiii No, because in a Capitalist state there is a requirement for there to be a pool of unemployed workers waiting for work. In UK and thus the EU, the state provides benefits to help workers who are unemployed. However, a wise worker sets aside savings in the good years to take care of himself and his family in the lean years. Also wise workers buy insurance cover for when they are unemployed and do not simply rely upon state hand-

outs which might not be sufficient to pay such as a mortgage and etc. The job of government is to allow free trade to flourish and to avoid putting difficulties before employers thus making it hard to run a business to make a profit and etc. Workers should be encouraged to buy shares in the firms where they are employed, thus they will become owners of the means of production and can have a vote at the AGM each year. Workers should also join a Trade Union and remain loyal to their employer because the workers have a vested interest in seeing their company remains profitable, etc. Governments should keep their noses out of business, every time they do so, that's when the c.r.a.p. hits the fan. The banking sector should be either broken up into smaller units or else divided into two distinct and separate halves. Half no. 1 where we all put our savings with minimum risk - interest of about 2 to3% etc Half no. 2 casino investments, hedge funds, money scams, wonga issues and etc Few people seem to be aware that there are some banks with bigger money than the country of which they are a citizen. Bear this in mind when think about what to do with the banks, which have already cost us dear. o o o
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xpatinas... No, the government does not owe you a job. There is a federal minimum wage and, some municipalities (CA for example) have a higher minimum wage than the federal mandate. Whether or not that meets your standard is up to you and not the government. o o
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gcbtradi... No, you have a moral responsibility to provide for yourself and your family. If you can not find a job, create one. You also have a moral responsibility to be worth more than minimum wage. o o o
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lawrence... No, because the economy is best left to the private sector; government control strangles the economy. o o
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 Off course they don't.

Sarky

In a free market economy it is NOT the governments responsibility, moral or legal, to offer employment to anyone. o o
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Janice No you finding a job is YOUR responsibility. The government is there to provide things like defense and mail not handle everything in your life for you. o o o
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hornet Yes it has a duty to OFFER a job, if it's not accepted then they are on their own. Also the minimum wage is too low. o o o
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nas88car300#l 20 MK takes chase ...

nope .. you have to go out and get one' nothing should be just handed to you o
3 years ago

How Government Can Help Create Jobs 3 Suggestions

July 22, 2011 in politics | Tags: Business Plan, Deflation, Inflation, investment, job creation, job growth, playing politics, QE3, Quantitative Easing, regulation

1 Votes First, lets be clear. Government normally creates jobs that create nothing. Real jobs are ones that add value and pay taxes from that added value. Most jobs created by government fail that test. So, the thought of Government creating jobs is one that must be understood as not actually creating jobs, but doing things that will encourage the creation of jobs in the private sector. Without the private sector jobs that add the value that is taxed, there are no funds for the government jobs.

Government can be good at coordinating, organizing, regulating, and setting standards. So what can Government do to help create jobs? There is an old Bumper sticker that I have on my wall that holds one of the keys to answer that question. It says, Make Welfare as hard to get as Building Permits. Though a bit simplistic (like most bumper stickers) it points out the fact that businesses must endure a long list of barriers before they can go to work or before they can create jobs. Many, if not most, of those barriers are Government-created. Do you remember the teacher keeping the entire class after school because one person in the class failed to follow instructions? Typically this was done by the teacher for two reasons. He or she wanted the peer pressure of all those who complied to force the offender to fall into line. He or she was also probably lazy. The same result could be accomplished by the teacher spending an appropriate amount of time with the offender but that would not be easy. It was easy just to make everyone do the same thing and the end result was that the offender usually bowed to the peer pressure. The other 25 members of the class wasted a half hour or more but the teacher saved a few hours of working with the offender.

Much of the dreaded paperwork that government requires of businesses is just like that. To control a small problem or to keep a very small group of scofflaws in line, government creates a program that punishes and wastes the time of all the others. Need examples? Just try to permit a small wine tasting room on your farm/vineyard. Having done it, I have a list of requirements with which I was required to comply that wasted my time and my money, but, did nothing to improve the community anywhere close to time and cost involved. Why should I pay for a traffic study (going price about $1,500) for the 4 days a year that my tasting room will add about 25- 35 cars on our road? Does the lady down the block who has a garage sale every weekend have to do that? She generates far more traffic than we ever will. Does everyone who builds a home on a piece of raw land on our road have to do a traffic study? A new home and the family who lives in it will certainly generate far more traffic in a year than our winery ever could. Why should I be required to have my septic tank pumped (going price $300-400) and then have a county inspection (over $1000 for the inspector to come out an look at the system and issue a report)? If my septic system is not up to the additional burden of 4 days of wine tasting a year, who is hurt by that? Only me. More wasted time and money. No benefit to the community. Suggestion Number 1 Government at all levels should make an assessment of the number of people effected by each requirement with which a business must comply. They should look at the revenue and see if the number of people required to draw up the requirement plus those to administer and enforce it are paid for by the fees collected. They should look to see the size of the problem the requirement was made to resolve. They should see how many are effected by the problem. If the problem is one person playing his stereo too loud late at night, does that warrant a law that bans the playing of stereos after 10 p.m. for the entire community? I think we could cut the paperwork barriers to new or increased business activity significantly. That would encourage more business and more job creation. It is often said that a successful journey starts with a well thought out plan or itinerary. Imagine planning a trip for six months from now. You get airline tickets, rental car reservations, book hotels, and line up special tours or events. Each of these items in your

plan is tied to the next. If your plane is late, the car rental office may be closed. If you cant get the rental car, you cant get to your hotel without more money for a cab, etc., etc. But, you know most of these things and know they are not normal and you can handle such problems. You are encouraged by your plan that you will have a successful trip so you invest in the tickets, car, and rooms. Now how would you feel about your trip if the airlines often changed fares or schedules or destinations after you booked your trip? What about if the car rental companies were known to offer a 5 passenger car for $50 a day and then often only had 2 passenger cars that they rented at $100 per day? What if you booked and paid ($150 per night) for the Hilton and when you arrived they said the hotel was full and put you up in the Wally World Hotel down the street that had a sign saying rooms available by the hour, day, or week? Would you go ahead and book your trip and make the investment even though you were uncertain any of your plans would work? Not likely. Business is much like that. Business plans are made based on known and predicted conditions. The more stable the conditions, the more likely a plan is to succeed and therefore, the more likely a business will find investors. That bodes well for investments and job growth. On the other hand, when things are not stable, investment drops dramatically. Do you know if we will have inflation or deflation over the next five years? Me either. But, if I were planning a business or an investment, I would need to know or at least have a strong belief. My guess is that Mr. Obama will be convinced by his advisors that we have to keep the bubble inflated at least until the election in November of 2012. To me that means we will have another round of quantitative easing. In other words, I would bet we will print more money and have more inflation. But, I am not in the mood to make any investments with the amazing uncertainty that exists right now. Will Congress and the President get serious about balancing our budget? Until they do, I think investment will be depressed and job creation minimal. Today the only stable things that seem to continue to get investment dollars are business plans tied to government growth/spending, medical care, and the aging population. We seem confident that these things will continue to grow.

Suggestion Number 2 - Get serious about cutting Government Spending at all levels. If the Federal Government had a strong leader who ordered all agencies under his control to cut budgets by 15% immediately, I think investments would swell. If the Federal Government would stop changing the rules for employers (taxes, fees, requirements to provide health care

or pay a fine, etc?), I think investments in business would increase. If our governments committed to plans that would balance budgets, largely through cutting spending, I think investments would swell as would the job rolls. Most business plans are highly complex and detailed. People who seek investment or a loan to expand or start a business must lay out an argument for the business and how it will succeed. First, it must define what success will mean. Will it be a certain positive cash flow or a certain increase in profit margin to allow the payoff of the required loan? Will it plan for a certain return on investment for the investors? Once this definition of success is known, the business planner must show that the risks involved are within reason for the anticipated return. They say that the marketplace will tell you the value of any asset. I think that barring government intervention, that is basically true. If for example, you look at corporate bonds, you will see that bonds that pay 5% today command a higher price than ones that pay 1% if you assume that both are of equal risk. If Borders Books had a 20% bond offering today, I dont think many people would buy it considering the state of affairs at Borders. Or if they would, it would be at a huge discount. Government bonds, like T-Bills are offered at 3% and people will buy them. Currently, Banks will pay you less than 1% (passbook savings) to borrow your money. The Feds are paying above market interest so they can attract enough investors to cover the ever increasing deficits. As long as banks can borrow money for 1% and the Fed will pay them 3%, guaranteed, they need only invest in T -Bills. Why would they every lend money to a risky business when they have a guaranteed 2% margin when they buy T-Bills with their money. Suggestion Number 3 - The Federal Government needs to balance its budget and stop printing money. If it would do this, they would not need to pay a premium to sell T-Bills, and banks would not have the guaranteed margin they now have when they buy T-Bills instead of lending the money. Banks would again have to earn money the hard way, by studying business plans, evaluating risks and rewards, and then making business loans. This would allow new businesses and business expansions, both of which would create jobs. Banks investing in T-Bills creates no new jobs. Spending more money than in any previous time, borrowing more money than any time (other than World War II), and creating administrative and regulatory barriers to free enterprise will never help create a job. Doing the opposite will. Playing politics and saying that we threaten senior citizens and the poor if we dont continue to increase spending will not create more jobs. Leading the nation to reduce government involvement in our daily lives will help spur on more investment and more jobs. I would love to have someone tell me anything that Congress and the Current Administration are doing that will help increase investment in U.S. business enterprises which will create jobs given the opportunity.