Rod Grams and Jim Oberstar, candidates for the Minnesota 8th District Congressional seat, have been pointing fingers at each other about job creation or loss. Grams thinks that Oberstar is responsible for the loss of mining and forestry jobs. Oberstar is proud that his efforts created 100 jobs here and 400 there. They both cite projects they support that will create jobs.
First, is it the business of Congress to create local jobs? Isn't that something best left to the states and other local governments? Even then, by creating specific projects, other than for projects with a public use, like transit, isn't government favoring a specific interest over other interests.
Second, how much can one Representative influence a whole industry, either favorably or unfavorably. Can a Representative put ore back in the ground after a mine is worked out? Can a Representative restore resources which have been taken off the market? Can a Representative create a market for a product that has been replaced by other products? Can a Representative mitigate the effects of automation on reducing the number of employees needed?
Some of the Mesabi Range deposits have been worked out. An act of Congress won't put the ore back. Some deposits are of lower quality than deposits elsewhere. Can Congress mandate that those deposits will be worked even if the company will lose money.
Forestry jobs are down for two reasons. One is that forest land has been taken out of production because the paper companies can make more money selling their land than harvesting the trees. The land is being sold for development, often for private recreational use. Many of the new landowners have no interest in seeing their land clearcut. Two, huge amounts of paper are being recycled, reducing the need to cut more trees. There is such a glut that landfill operators use newsprint to cover the day's take of trash.
Many things that used to be built with steel are now made with aluminum or plastic. Shall Congress mandate that more steel be used in automobiles, thereby increasing fuel consumption?
Productivity increases are generally regarded as a good thing, but productivity means fewer jobs. Huge electric shovels can quickly fill a huge truck with a third of the production of a single deep mine? Shall Congress mandate that more ore be mined with pick and shovel, and possibly with more death and injury?
What Congress and other governments can do is create a climate for entrepeneurship? That includes changing expectations from finding jobs to looking for opportunities, making it relatively simple to create most businesses without a horde of lawyers, and by not favoring some businesses which will take resources or opportunities from other businesses.
