The government does create jobs

Mark Bird, Las Vegas

Sunday, July 22, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.

Everyone has heard the statement, “Government does not create jobs.” This phrase is patently false. Instead, government has directly or indirectly created more than 90 percent of all jobs in Las Vegas.

Government created Hoover Dam, Interstate 15 and McCarran International Airport. Does any rational person really believe the MGM, Mirage or Venetian hotels are responsible for more jobs than these three government projects? Lake Mead supplies 90 percent of the water used in Las Vegas. Would these hotels have been built without the water source?

Furthermore, government creates more than 80 percent of all professional jobs via public institutions like the College of Southern Nevada and UNLV. The private sector seldom creates engineers, nurses, historians and dozens of other professionals.

The extreme antigovernment statement even has a false premise. It is like saying Venus, air and dirt do not create jobs. It is not the function of street cleaners, postal workers, librarians and dozens of other professions to create jobs. It is more accurate to say the function of government is to create needed public services.

Government similarly creates such employment in all 50 states. It is impossible to have a modern nation without a wide array of government jobs. Places without a multitude of government jobs have names like Ethiopia and the Amazon jungle.

Statements like, “Government does not create jobs,” should be subject to elementary scrutiny.