In an exclusive interview with CNBC’s resident stockmonger Jim Cramer, Apple CEO Tim Cook made a proud announcement: His company will begin to invest $1 billion to create new jobs in the United States, as opposed to on the other side of the world, where its iPhones, iPads and laptops are made. Cook will be lauded for this, and yes, jobs are good. But don’t think for a moment this isn’t about saving Apple a buck in the long run.

“I’m proud to tell you that we’re creating an advanced manufacturing fund,” Cook told Cramer from Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters. “We’re initially putting $1 billion in the fund.” This ostensible decision of the heart very clearly became something more strategic, as Cramer noted that while a billion is a big number, it’s relatively tiny given Apple’s liquid war chest, which now tops $250 billion in cash. Cook’s reply: “It’s $1 billion of our U.S. money, which we have to borrow to get, that’s another whole topic.”

Why would a company with $250 billion in cash need to borrow 1/250th of that in order to launch its vaunted U.S. jobs program? According to Cook, it’s because the company is a victim of its own success: