Every day I hear and/or read the mantra(s): “Eliminate or reduce business taxes and/or regulations and it will create jobs.” “Reduce government uncertainty and it will create jobs.”

Our esteemed governor repeatedly regurgitates these absolutes to convince us that all of his proposals will create good jobs. Well, it worked; he created jobs removing works of art.

Paul LePage and I both have MBA degrees, but he must have had an unusual professor; one who convinced his students to seek government handouts to create jobs.

While at my university, the professors preached: “Demand is the principal driver of job creation” and “Demand for your products is created by the consumer wanting and willing to pay for your products.” Handouts were never mentioned.

Consider: If a business owner is satisfying the demand for the business’s products with existing employees, does he or she believe that a tax break will cause customers to purchase more of the product, or cause new customers for the product to materialize? I think not.

But, let’s assume a “divine intervention” occurs due to the tax cut and demand for the products does increase.

Wouldn’t a smart business owner attempt to satisfy the demand increase by having existing employees work more hours or perhaps implement new processes or technology?

As smart business owners well know, but LePage doesn’t, this is called “Increasing productivity.” Or, would business owners, like LePage, use the tax cut to rush out and hire employees, or would they simply put the tax cut in their own pocket?

Ronald Chayer

Sidney