Progressive parties not solution

Re: “Please, Ignatieff” Oct. 15, 2009

In regards to Iain McCauley’s piece “Please, Ignatieff” I wish to address some of the fallacies which have cropped into his positive assessment of ‘progressive’ policies.

He decries the current situation of unemployment among students, yet that unemployment is a direct result of “progressive” policies of continually increasing minimum wage laws.

Minimum wage laws make it illegal for people to exchange their labour for a price below a legislated minimum and are purported to help the poor.

What they ultimately lead to is unemployment among those people who are less productive than the minimum price on labour.

Students who have little work experience are among the marginally productive members of the workforce and will be the first to experience the unemployment resulting from minimum wage laws.

If students wish to improve their economic lot they should fight this infringement on their economic freedoms.

Another fallacy within the article regards the notion of government “creating” employment opportunities.

Due to the nature of government and that all funding for projects or ‘make-work’ schemes come from taxation either presently or in the future, no jobs can be ‘created’ by government.

The fallacy comes from ignoring the individuals whose money has been confiscated to fund these ‘new’ jobs. That money can no longer go to provide employment to people providing services to the taxed individuals.

In fact government ‘make-work’ programs ultimately lead to inefficient allocation of resources and a poorer society because people are not properly rewarded for providing benefits and services to society.

–Brian Highgate