Can the government create jobs?

The short answer is no [“Can the government create jobs?” Opinion, Aug. 11].

In the real world, the government can’t inject money into the economy without first taking money out of the economy. The private sector — the place government takes money from because it has no money of its own — is where jobs are really created. Any government scheme to “create” jobs means resources are taken from the efficient private sector, and spent by the inherently inefficient public sector.

Of course, as a nation, we do need government employees for such things as administering our court system, police and national defense, but David Sirota seems to conflate public-sector workers (the U.S. military) with private-defense contractors.

— Brett Davis, Port Orchard