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Government jobs are different. They cost taxpayer's money and don't do anything to improve the private market for goods and services, which is the lifeblood of our economy.

Why should we keep pumping scarce blood into a corpse when we should be animating the market instead?

No, no, anonymous. The government should take over the private sector and dole out jobs properly to people of the correct political and theological persuasions. Only then can we be sure of a fair distribution of wealth, a rising of all the boats and whathaveyou.

Sorry, Claus, it was just too tempting... :)

I'm sorry, but both of those comments are ridiculous. Some public sector positions clearly *do* improve the market for goods and services because they provide critical economic infrastructure. Improved road services (a large part of the stimulus package), for example, reduce transportation time costs, opening up new markets for consumers. Quality police departments make more neighborhoods safe (businesses cannot operate in unsafe areas). Ask a Realtor about the relationship between public school quality and home values, etc etc.

The rampant shedding of jobs at the local level could certainly be a drag on local economic growth, if towns notice a decrease in quality of local services. To pretend otherwise is simply being blindly ideological.

Anonymous--Yes, government jobs are different, but they're not unimportant. And, as Bernanke makes clear, they contribute to the economy. It's simply wrong-headed to think that the loss of hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs won't make our current situation worse. And blood into a corpse? Please. The teachers, firefighters and police officers who are being laid off deserve better than that.

Mrs. C--I knew you wouldn't be able to resist. Consider this blog posting bait. :)

Update: Mr. Brown posted his comment just as I was posting mine. He made much better points than I did.

We always suggest university students to buy custom papers because it's a correct solution for people who are pressured by time.

Yes. Education and Economy are the top needs and the rights of the governed people.