McCain's EBay Model for Jobs Finds Few Buyers Among Economists

[SemiCharmedQuark]

Snip:

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee regularly asserts that 1.3 million people worldwide ``make a living off EBay.'' He holds up the figure as evidence the world's largest Internet auctioneer is a model for job and economic growth.

McCain, seeking to address voter anxiety about the economy, uses EBay to signal that he is ``fundamentally optimistic about the capacity of the U.S. economy to innovate, for that innovation to give new opportunities for jobs,'' said Doug Holtz-Eakin, the candidate's senior economic adviser. ``We shouldn't be obsessed with looking backwards all the time, and saying, `Gee, where did those jobs go?'''

This affection for EBay as an engine for job creation, however, confounds economists such as Betsey Stevenson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia.

``In terms of jobs, there's no net increase in GDP that comes from trading stuff that's already made,'' said Stevenson, author of a study on the Internet and employment levels. ``New people selling stuff out of their closet on EBay isn't growing the economy.''


http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080624/pl_bloomberg/ajxbcbplynwy


Another economic superstar put forth by the Republican party. Yay...

[blondeatlast]

1. I know people who hoped to quit their jobs and sell on E-bay (NOT me, btw).

Guess which "employment" they quit, Senator?

Wrong--they no longer sell on E-bay, you DOLT! :mad:

[Fovea]

2. `Gee, where did those jobs go?'

Tell you what John, why don't you try the next four years without a job, and get back to us in 2012.

[DerekJ]

3. Does he even know how to use ebay?!!