Saving Jobs at $385,000 Each

So far, the cost to the US taxpayer of bailing out GM has been 15.4 billion dollars. With that kind of investment, one would think a lot of jobs would be saved. But this is not the case. According to the deal between GM, the UAW, and the government, GM is planning on keeping only 40,000 permanent hourly workers. The cost to the taxpayer is then $385,000 per job.

How long will these jobs last? Given the tremendous over-capacity in the world's automobile industry, GM will be faced with further drastic cutbacks, if not outright closure, in a few more years. Given that most of these jobs are essentially temporary, $385,000 per job is a waste of resources.

It is our opinion if vast sums of money are going to be used to create jobs at public expense, the jobs created should provide long-lasting public goods and services. This is also known as good government. Bailing out GM, a failed company creating private-sector goods unprofitably, is lemon socialism.