New at Reason: Jacob Sullum on Disappearing Stimulus Jobs

November 25, 2009

The Obama administration's tally of jobs "created or saved" by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes nine linked to the purchase of work boots—one for each pair. Senior Editor Jacob Sullum says the economic kick supposedly delivered by those boots is emblematic of the errors and exaggerations that pervade the job numbers proudly cited by the Obama administration as evidence that the Recovery Act is working. He argues that the labor-intensive boots also illustrate the goofy logic of government-goosed employment, which aims to maximize jobs and therefore prizes inefficiency.

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