This is the hat-trick of the "job creator" myth. Narratives have no numbers attached; the quantitative delta between luxuries, and the jobs they allegedly create, belies real economic energy transferred from those living paycheck-to-paycheck, to those who signify status through conspicuous consumption.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying every purchase needs to pass some utilitarian moral litmus test; and sometimes luxury spending can have positive externalities, particularly when it incentivizes innovation. But we shouldn't pretend that gold-plated helicopters are inherently a win/win/win just because some subsistence wages got paid along the way, when we could have collected the same revenue as taxes and paid those wages for building infrastructure instead.

oh don't be silly