May/June 2006 Issue

Explosive Job Growth

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“By cutting taxes on income, we helped create jobs,” George W. Bush boasted in January. But the numbers tell another story. Over the past five years, the private sector has gained 2.8 million new jobs, created entirely by government spending, largely on defense. (Meanwhile, the economy lost about a million nongovernment jobs.) So don’t thank tax cuts, thank the military-industrial complex.

  • Private-sector jobs created by defense spending, 2001-2006: 1.5 million (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  • Private-sector jobs created by other government spending, 2001-2006: 1.3 million (Department of Defense)
  • Private-sector jobs lost, 2001-2006: 1 million (Economic Policy Institute)

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