Does McCain Think that the White Sox Victory in the World Series Created 1 Million Jobs?

Presumably, the answer to this question is "no," but the methodology that he used in claiming the success of NAFTA, would imply that the answer is "yes."

According to the Wall Street Journal, McCain pronounced NAFTA a success at a speech in Canada, noting that Canada had created 4 million jobs since the deal was signed and that the United States had created 25 million jobs.

The fact that these economies have created jobs over the last 15 years tells us nothing about the success of NAFTA. Barring wars or environmental disasters, or incredibly bad economic policies, economies always create jobs. The serious question is the rate of job creation. In the case of NAFTA, a deal which was designed in a way that would put downward pressure on the wages of non-college educated workers, a key question is the rate of growth of wages of these workers over the last 15 years.

Reporters are supposed to do more than just write down what politicians say. (Presumably smart high-school students would be willing to do this work at a bit more than the minimum wage.) When candidates say things that make no sense, as did Senator McCain, it is appropriate to point this fact out to readers and to press the candidate or their staff about what the candidate intended to say.

--Dean Baker