Size of the pie

The argument between giving public assistance vs providing jobs can be best understood by watching how business people allocate their money. If a successful business gives their profits to charity they help a certain group on a one time basis. If, on the other hand, they reinvest their profits in the business they can create new jobs which help people on a continuing basis. A good example is Amazon, a company that has never paid dividends to its investors but instead has always reinvested the profits in the business. The result is that over the past 26 years it has created 876,000 jobs. Amazon reports very little profit because it reinvests everything it earns and thus pays very little in taxes. Investors make money because Amazon is a growth stock meaning investors make money not on dividends but by selling stock that has increased in value. In the past 5 years Amazon stock has gone from $800 per share to over $3,000 per share. This is more than a 30% annual return on investment. The government can only redistribute what is in the pie but business can increase the size of the pie.