MEDFORD, Ore. – “Obama says he’s going to make middle-class jobs,” the breakfast room troubadour bellowed at the Holiday Inn Express to those who wanted to listen – and to those who didn’t. “Did he make your job?” he went on, cornering a female employee. “Private companies make jobs.”

The commentary was not entirely wrong. Private enterprise creates the great majority of jobs in this country. But the baritone assumes that entrepreneurs can easily grow good jobs in a world filled with smart young people working for less money.

Every successful rich country – Germany, for example – has a government actively building the right economic environment, including an educated workforce able to fill good jobs. It has low unemployment, high wages and a sturdy social safety net.