What if someone told you they'd invest $457 million dollars which would create 1,700 jobs? Would you consider that a good investment? That's a cost of $268,823.53 per job. Personally, I think that's a pretty lousy deal. However, that's exactly what the Ontario Liberals are doing through McGuinty's green energy plans.
If a job requires a government subsidy, it's probably an illusion anyway. If that job was so valued, why does it need a subsidy to exist? Certainly, if there is a genuine market for a job and a demand that can be supplied, then the free market will fill that need. But the Liberal Government in Ontario doesn't function in the economic reality that most of us have to work in.
Remember the Health Care Premium? Have we seen any benefits to that? Do we even know whether those dollars in extra taxes we pay are being spent on health? After all, no special Health Trust Fund was ever set up to guarantee that. But such is how governments function, they promise one thing even though they can't guarantee that any measurable results will occur, a very huge difference from what occurs in the private sector where results are really all that matters. Publicly companies are accountable to shareholders, boards, regulators, and the public in general. They are far more open and transparent than the government is, and employees can actually lose their jobs for poor performance, unlike government workers.
So this "green investment" in "green jobs" like wind turbines (that kill migratory birds, ahem) is really just a re-distribution of wealth. The McGuinty regime has taken money from taxpaying individuals and corporations and re-distributed it to Samsung and other companies who otherwise wouldn't invest the money in wind turbines because they're a bad investment. Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the US, who shielded banks and mortgage companies from the true risk of their investments, McGuinty is, likewise, removing the risk for Samsung by redistributing wealth.
So when you see those wind turbines in Windsor and elsewhere, you can be happy to know that your government is making investments in projects the private sector thinks are bad investments.
3 comments:
As Tom Adams and quite a few others have pointed out, the phantom GE jobs can at best, only be replacements for the jobs lost because of high energy costs. There can be no net gain, and most of the new jobs will be much lower paying positions. Wind turbine blade manufacturing is an example; what is the point of making blades if the world outside of Ont. has already moved beyond the wind power fantasy? Just as wind can never produce reliabe, efficient electricity, Green Energy can never create longterm, valuable jobs.
We do not want any giant wind fans. It would be nice if you people could make something that works - how about a toaster or an iron.
@ L
Sorry L, but those things are made in China these days.
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