The Right Way (and Wrong Way) to Create Jobs

Every election, politicians promise to create jobs. There's just one problem: governments can't create real, sustainable jobs. Not in a way that adds value to the economy. Not in a way that pays for itself.

In this episode of BusinessIsGood, Chris Cooper breaks down the fundamental difference between governments that create the conditions for businesses to grow — and governments that try to substitute for them.

The right approach looks like clear laws, enforced contracts, solid infrastructure, and sensible protections. When that's done well, businesses grow. They hire. They pay taxes. They fill the pot that funds our hospitals, schools, and roads.

The wrong approach is governments hiring their way to "full employment." Unlike private-sector jobs, these positions produce no goods, serve no paying customers, and generate no revenue. They consume the pot instead of filling it.

Here's what that actually costs. The Parliamentary Budget Office calculated that the average full-time federal government worker costs $125,300 per year in total compensation — salary, pension, paid time off, and benefits included. The average Canadian individual taxpayer pays roughly $24,000 a year in total taxes. That means it takes about five taxpayers' entire annual tax bills just to fund one government position.

Meanwhile, more than one in five Canadian workers now works in government — and nearly half of all net new jobs created since 2019 have been in the public sector. Chris explains why the bureaucracy almost never shrinks, introduces the concept of More's Law, and makes the case for why your business is more important to this country than you might think.

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Website - https://businessisgood.com/