To remind the government - jobs are a cost not a benefit

The current government is firmly grasping the wrong end of the economic logic stick. Like most governments most of the time of course but still. We think we should point this out:

I am determined to deliver that change. But I know it can only happen if we bring investment back to Britain. Investment that can reignite Britain’s industrial heartlands to create good jobs in the industries of the future – like wind power and solar. And this includes carbon capture and storage. That’s why today we have announced up to £21.7bn of funding over 25 years to launch this major new industry for our country in a new era for clean-energy investment and jobs.

Leave aside the whole carbon capture and storage idea (which means we don’t have to address the silliness of it) and concentrate just on that comment about jobs from the Chancellor. As with this from the Sec of State for Expensive Energy:

With Labour, climate action means investment in good jobs.

Jobs are a cost, not a benefit.

Yes, obviously, everyone likes things to be produced. Everyone likes to have access to that production which does, more often than not, require having an income to gain that access. But it’s still true that jobs are a cost.

For those who have to do the jobs a job is effort that must be expended. For those trying to get the work done of course a job is an expense of that. For society as a whole a job is a cost too. Human labour is an economic resource, there’s also a limit to it and therefore it’s a scarce resource. We’d much prefer to have the production while economising on the use of such scarce economic resources.

Jobs are a cost of getting something done, not a benefit of doing that thing.

Adding jobs to the energy supply system - or to our anti-climate change efforts - is adding costs to our energy supply system - or anti-climate change efforts. As we’ve already the most expensive energy in the rich world and the cause of that is our anti-climate change efforts adding these jobs just increases our basic problem.

Yes, obviously, we’ve issues with the policy itself. But is it really too much to ask that the government of the country grasps the most basic of points about economics? Jobs are a cost…..