Krugman: Mitch Daniels ‘Lied about Jobs and jobs’

In his SOTU rebuttal, Gov. Mitch Daniels [R-IN] pushed the Republican fantasy of the the heroic entrepreneur, the John Galt:

For Mr. Daniels tried to wrap his party in the mantle of the late Steve Jobs, whom he portrayed as a great job creator — which is one thing that Jobs definitely wasn’t. And if we ask why Apple has created so few American jobs, we get an insight into what is wrong with the ideology dominating much of our politics.

[Translation, Apple created a lot of Chinese jobs.]

Why does Apple manufacture abroad, and especially in China? As the article explained, it’s not just about low wages. China also derives big advantages from the fact that so much of the supply chain is already there. A former Apple executive explained: “You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That’s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away.”

The point is that successful companies — or, at any rate, companies that make a large contribution to a nation’s economy — don’t exist in isolation. Prosperity depends on the synergy between companies, on the cluster, not the individual entrepreneur.

“One side [Republican] believes that economies succeed solely thanks to heroic entrepreneurs; the other [Democratic] has nothing against entrepreneurs, but believes that entrepreneurs need a supportive environment, and that sometimes government has to help create or sustain that supportive environment. And the view that it takes more than business heroes is the one that fits the facts.”

Paul Krugman, NYT