September 14, 2011 1:26PM 

# Peter Schiff: For Jobs, Look to Microeconomics 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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[Peter Schiff’s testimony to a House committee](http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony/9-13-2011_Schiff_Testimony.pdf) yesterday on the nation’s economic crisis provides a refreshing contrast to the Keynesian-dominated commentary that saturates the mainstream media.

Peter talks about how:

- The president’s jobs plan would create perverse hiring and firing incentives
- Infrastructure investment needs to earn a positive net return else it’s not worth doing.
- The minimum wage increases unemployment for low-skill workers
- Regulation and litigation reduce hiring
- Extended unemployment benefits exacerbate unemployment.

It’s all Econ 101 microeconomics, but it’s often forgotten these days by economists and pundits who only see the world through the lens of “aggregate demand.”

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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