The effects of the Great Recession continue to reshape the nation, and it will be interesting to see the ultimate effect on our laws, and even on our political philosophies.

We recently noted that Gov. Terry Branstad seems to waver from his conservative, small-government mindset when he calls for the state to help employees purchase companies that otherwise might fall into out-of-state hands.

Now consider a bill in the Iowa Legislature, House File 2042, which would require that every proposed government rule include a jobs-impact statement. From the official explanation: “The statement must also determine whether a proposed rule would have a positive or negative impact on private sector jobs and employment opportunities.”

Lobbyists for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Community Bankers of Iowa have lined up in support of the bill. It sailed through the House of Representatives in perfect bipartisan style, 92-0.

Bills like this sail like that in an era marked by high unemployment and fears that the good times aren’t coming back. No politician wants to offend jobless voters.

Still, it’s worth thinking about the level of murkiness we’re willing to tolerate in the pursuit of job creation. The bill would establish a goal that will often be impossible to achieve. Calculating the jobs impact of a rule would produce nothing more than good-looking guesswork.

Also, it’s not difficult to imagine a rule that makes Iowa stronger by improving safety, reducing pollution or creating greater efficiencies – yet costs jobs.

Or, we could create jobs if we banned dangerous, fuel-guzzling machinery and required Iowa’s millions of acres of cropland to be planted and harvested by hand. But that wouldn’t be progress.

Government’s role is to provide a fair playing field and a sensible fiscal policy. Creating the jobs to go with that is up to the rest of us.