Swickard: Jobs only occur when businesses flourish

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “There is one and only one social responsibility of business: to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud” Milton Friedman
     The 2014 New Mexico Legislature is coming to an end of its 30-day session. There have been lots of controversies aimed at getting the members of the Legislature reelected in November but little else to help the people who need help the most: unemployed and underemployed New Mexicans.
     The every other year 30-day legislative session in New Mexico concentrates on a state budget and anything else that catches the governor’s fancy. Me, I fancy jobs because jobs make New Mexico strong and we are not strong in our business sector.
     For most people there are many more advantages to jobs than unemployment. Sure, with unemployment Democrats can throw palliative money at voters for the purpose of getting votes. They stand before cameras talking about helping New Mexico families. It gets them reelected but the people remain unemployed.
     The underlying issue to what ails New Mexico is that the New Mexico State government along with County and Municipalities are not doing the right things to support businesses in this state. So businesses are not hiring enough New Mexicans for our economy to improve.
     More so, the least likely to be employed are the least skilled since we have minimum wage laws which prohibit businesses from dealing honestly with potential employees. Businesses should be able to compensate employees by what the employee can do for the business.
     New Mexico needs to lose the notion that government knows best for the citizens and let the citizens make their own economic decisions. The marketplace will bring prosperity to New Mexico if New Mexico confines its interference to making sure, as Milton Friedman says, “business…engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” Read full column

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