As I indicated earlier this week, I will progressively add notes to the body of work that will become the manuscript for my next book (with long-time co-author Joan Muysken) on the – Future of Work. As I write bits and pieces, I will post them here for comments and feedback. The book will be published sometime in 2018. At present, I am working on the philosophical considerations that we will deploy to underpin the more prescriptive elements (policy proposals) that we will produce....Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Employment as a human right
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
We already have the Humphrey Hawkins full employment act in the US...
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, "Wage slavery as a human right." /sarc
ReplyDeleteThe Hebrews were kept in well-fed slavery in Egypt but God had a different plan - family farms, orchards, flocks, vineyards, etc that could not be lost for more than 50 years. Wage earners in ancient Israel were typically foreigners, not Hebrews.
The real purpose of a JG, as opposed to a UBI, is to burn up 40 hours/wk of a person's time/energy/morale so she/he can't bid down wages (having less need for an income because of a UBI, for example) during those 40 hours.
Thus a JG is akin to milk dumping during the 1930's - except human time/energy/morale is what is to be destroyed.
And even if a UBI caused wages to drop (How in the face of minimum wage laws is this supposed to happen?) So what? The drop would merely reflect the level of the UBI - assuming everyone chose to remain in the labor force (and this would certainly not be the case if the UBI was a living income, in which case many would "retire" from working for wages and work for themselves - thus DECREASING the labor supply and putting UPWARD pressure on wages).
Btw, the reduced wages a UniversalBasicIncome is supposed to bring about would tend to LOWER prices but with no decrease in total spending power.
ReplyDeleteOtoh, a JG, being focused on jobs rather than work output could easily cause HIGHER prices because of inefficiency, not to mention that some workers would produce negative work since all are not employable.