Is the reason why unemployment is elevated that millions of Americans are choosing not to work because of cushy government welfare provisions?
After all, welfare payments as a percentage of GDP and unemployment have risen in tandem...
Well, if labour was truly slacking off then we would expect to see a shortage of labour. But instead we see an elevated level of applicants per job openings...
This means that there are not enough job openings in the economy even for the number of current jobseekers, let alone the discouraged workers and disabled individuals who are claiming welfare.azizonomics — Economics for the jilted generation…
The “Unemployment Is Voluntary” Myth
John Aziz
It's the money system: Jobs have been automated away with the workers' own stolen purchasing power and/or all Americans have not "shared" in the benefits of lower cost foreign labor as they normally would with a just money system.
ReplyDeleteOf course pro-cyclical (insane, sadistic, stupid, wicked, all of the above?) fiscal policy is to blame too.
This is a blatant lie. If there was a true shortage of applicants per opening employers would be forced to raise wages to get workers. Nobody believes this is the case. Well, maybe the Mises Institute.
ReplyDeleteaccording to conventional economic theory all unemployment other than frictional (people transitioning between jobs) is "voluntary" in that everyone who is unemployed could gain employment by accepting a lower wage. The reason that this doesn't happen is either wage stickiness or structural reasons such as missmatch between jobs and skills, which then requires retraining. Then, there is the rationale that unemployment and welfare benefits are high enough to discourage work.
ReplyDeleteThat is to say, there is no demand related "cyclical unemployment" in the view of these economists.
That is to say, there is no demand related "cyclical unemployment" in the view of these economists. Tom Hickey
ReplyDeleteYet the workers' debt is measured in nominal, not real terms, and that debt is increasingly non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.