Bigger Government = Bigger Corruption
By
7.31.09
Let’s get right to the action shall we? In an amusing but sad commentary about the recent string of new Jersey corruption arrests, the Wall Street Journal stated that new Jersey created 55,800 government jobs between 2000 and 2007, versus only 6,800 private sector jobs.
This mirrors what Marc Faber mentioned and I discussed last week that the government sector nationwide created over 2.4M jobs where the private sector lost over 5.5M jobs in the last decade – as I mentioned, the undynamic, lethargic gov’t sector is not where you want your jobs being created for growth. Government jobs drain tax dollars and don’t usually spur economic growth and higher tax revenue.
What the Wall Street Journal pointed out as an additional problem with bigger government is bigger corruption. With many layers of government, it is easier to hide illicit acts. And government leaders have power over certain things – permitting, zoning, taxes, environmental approvals, etc – that those in the private sector don’t have. If I had a choice, I would prefer corporate corruption because they have less of a chance of controlling the general public with influence over government processes (ideally). Government corruption is VERY dangerous.
under our current plans, I can see Obama trying to solve the unemployment problem by having government hire another 10m people. With new programs and such, there will be new opportunities for corruption by leaders running inefficient programs. How many of you think the Department of Homeland Security is efficient? ‘Nuff Said…
Chris Grande
P.S. FYI: the governor of New jersey is John Corzine, formerly of Government Sachs (I mean Goldman Sachs), another corrupt organization that got too many handouts during the Fall 2008 porkfest.