Where the jobs go

As unemployment passes the double-digit mark in the coming months, Czech politicians will start throwing billions of more crowns at the problem. Not much effort will be made to control the effectiveness of the money spent, though, and we shouldn't expect many politicians to recognize the correlation between government waste and unemployment. Spending money on bad ideas might temporarily create or keep a few jobs, but in the long term it kills even more by diverting money away from productive activity. Want to approve a Kč 2.5bn scrap subsidy to benefit the car lobby? Count on killing a few hundred jobs in the long term. Want to let the corporate mafia steal Kč 40bn in a rigged environmental cleanup tender as an "anti-crisis" measure? Scratch off a few thousand jobs there too. Really want to save jobs, Mr. Politician? Try doing .... Oh, never mind. It's clear that you're not very interested. [Czech Republic joblessness]