Create More Jobs by Removing “Job Killers”

The US being the only world’s superpower has enjoyed so much wealth and influence for the past decades. And it is very intriguing to note that one of the most serious issues faced by the recent government is the creation of jobs. Despite the mighty symbol of the country being the most powerful nation in the world, its citizens are still struggling to find jobs or any source of living. The recent economic recession has increased the unemployment rate to over 9.5%. There are actually numerous reasons for this and not all people are aware of it.

Illegal immigrants, for one, may have taken numerous jobs from legal Americans but it is certainly not enough to be widely justifiable. The emergence of cheap labor from China is also usually blamed for lack of jobs. What people don’t know is that existing laws on business and labor may have been the primary reason why the unemployment rate today is reaching record highs. Most Americans are unaware of the impending consequences to their daily lives brought by these laws.

With the recent BP oil spill disaster, the US government immediately passed a moratorium on all deep water drilling over 500 feet in the Gulf, and a moratorium on all offshore drilling in Alaska and off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. This resulted in thousands of jobs and revenues lost from the oil production sector in Louisiana. In Alaska, the startup of one of the world’s richest copper and gold mines was halted because they believed that the resulting smell of the drill will lower the air quality of neighboring places. Because of this, mining firms now favor Canada over the US to conduct their mining operations.

Another very obvious example is the utilization of nuclear energy to generate electric power. The US, being one of the early founders of nuclear technology is actually taking too much time building nuclear plants. The Chinese and French took about 3 years to build a plant compared to the US which is only capable of building 1 in 10 years. Existing US laws and policies have hampered the faster creation of nuclear power plants despite it being already a proven technology. Nuclear power plants can employ thousands of workers with average to above average compensation. Add the fact that it also contributes to the promotion of cleaner energy.

The strict yet unreasonable regulations implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency have caused a severe imbalance in worker to job ratio. These so called “job killers” are hindering progress and development within the nation. The government should conduct an in-depth review on existing policies that are deemed unnecessary and overkill. In this way, startup companies will be able to put up their businesses and provide more jobs to the citizens of the nation. At this time of recession, it is very important to focus on job creation as it will be the primary tool for economic growth.