I t hit me while driving someplace and listening to the radio, maybe a month ago -- that the President was talking about the outcome of his stimulus package while using the now oft-repeated phrase about three and half million jobs being, "saved or created." (Freepik image) I'm hearing it again as I watch one of President Obama's acolytes on "Meet The Press" and so I'll ask you dear reader... how does one accurately measure a job saved? How can one record a job loss that didn't occur, but might have occurred under the circumstances? Data on new jobs created are obviously available and broadly examined -- but jobs saved? It seems like a clever mechanism to avoid any rigorous assessment of the relative success or failure of the stimulus plan. What's actually been created , is simply a new rhetorical device called "jobs saved". That phrase is designed to portray an anemic employment picture as something more robust, even i...
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