EDIT: For Benji49:
Don't be dissing my hero!
(Got the joke)
but seriously, back to the thread. Where do jobs come from.
Best readable book on economics:
Eat the Rich by PJ O'Rourke
You just need to read that book and you will understand that a lot of the conventional wisdom you read today (The US is doomed! China is the new #1) is just a bunch of crap.