I Sent This Letter To The Dallas Morning News Today

Dear Editors:

re: Report: Stimulus has saved or created more than 1,000 Texas jobs By DAVE MICHAELS

Recover.gov's claim that "stimulus funds have saved or created about 1,100 jobs in Texas" is economic fallacy.

If I were to confiscate people's earnings in Fort Worth and then give the money to people in Dallas, no jobs are created.  Even if my new friends spend the unearned money on construction projects, the opportunity cost of the muggings in Fort Worth creates a net loss to the economy, particularly in the case cited in your article, where a middleman drains the coffers before the redistribution and a bureaucrat instead of an entrepreneur decides where to redistribute the money.

Those behind Recover.gov are either victims or perpetrators of the Broken Window fallacy.

Risking assets to satisfy desire creates jobs and wealth. Transferring money only transfers jobs while evaporating wealth.

                 Tim Lebsack

                 Libertarian Party of Dallas County