In February 2010, Russ Roberts shared, here at Cafe Hayek, this cartoon.
The point of this cartoon – and of Russ’s sharing it – is that for all jobs created by government ‘stimulus’ spending, there are jobs destroyed by that spending.
There are, however, two important differences between the jobs created and those destroyed by ‘stimulus’ spending: First, the created jobs are seen while the destroyed jobs are unseen; second, the created jobs are highly unlikely to be as productive as are the destroyed jobs.
A skilled artist could update this cartoon, showing Trump (in place of Obama) ‘creating’ jobs with his tariffs – and simultaneously destroying jobs elsewhere in the economy with those same tariffs. And just as Obama partisans saw only that which they wished to see, a vision that fueled their economically unwarranted enthusiasm for Obama, Trump partisans see only that which they wish to see, a vision that fuels their economically unwarranted enthusiasm for Trump.
