There's a lot of talk in the press these days about the cost of green jobs. The new president of the United States, Barack Obama, is pushing for bold investment in renewable energies and technologies that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He is praising the incentives that have been put in place for companies investing in greenery in such countries as Spain, Germany or Japan.
On the one hand green converts believe the virtues of these plans will bring back economic growth and treat developed countries' addiction to oil, slowing global warming in the process. On the other hand some studies suggest that these policies might actually destroy more jobs than they create.
[...] According to Mr. Calzada 2.2 times as many jobs would have been created if the total amount of these subsidies had been left in the hands of the private sector. This kind of stimulus scheme, the argument goes, redirects artificially private investment towards renewable energy projects and fuel efficient cars. As a result, the money invested there is not invested in the rest of the economy where it would have created more jobs for the same amount of money. But some evidence contradicts this view Taking into account other pieces of data raises a few questions though. [...]
[...] If governments in industrialized countries create a sensible framework for green jobs, rewarding debt control and making sure that companies benefiting from green subsidies put in place sound job regulation, it could be a great opportunity for economic growth. Finally one could argue that renewable energy being a substitute product for fossil fuels, increasing supply of the former lowers the demand for the latter hence bringing energy prices down. The resulting cheapness of energy lowers transportation and production costs, which is helpful for the economy. [...]
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