>Although a valid concern putting "job creation" as a goal for governments can (and in a lot of occurrences in recent history, did) backfire spectacularly.

>In the most reductive analogy it creates incentive for the government to create "hole diggers" and "hole fillers" type of jobs that, in aggregate, generate very few useful work while fulfilling this basic goal of job creation.

>I believe this "job creation as priority" approach is inferior to both the "laissez-faire" capitalist alternative and the "basic income" social democratic one.

There may be another way, that is not mutually exclusive with the other approaches. It may take longer to have an effect but could be also more permanent or effective: supporting and encouraging much more local and small self-employment and small business. (And by encouraging I mean by concrete methods, not just hand waving and "moral support" kind of stuff).

It has the effect of giving the dignity and money you get from work, without the artificial hole-digging-and-filling provided by the government (which method doesn't have the dignity if you know the work is made up just for you).

Gandhi and E. F. Schumacher (Small is Beautiful) were talking about and doing this decades ago.

There are many ways in which it can be done.