Lambert Strether — The Jobs Guarantee, “Make-Work,” and FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

One of the talking points deployed against a Jobs Guarantee[1] is “make-work.”[2] (I’m not proffering a complete sentence because deployment, in form of a jerking knee, is so fast that complete sentence cannot be emitted in time). This makes me crazy, because I was taught about FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in grade school, and while the CCC was not “A job for everyone who wants one,” the work the millions employed by CCC did was most definitely not “make-work.” So in this post, I want to take a quick look at the CCC, because not all readers may be familiar with it, and then take a quick look at what a modern CCC might do. (In other words, I’m recapturing a little history here — even perhaps doing a little bit of a rant — not doing serious policy analysis.)

Naked Capitalism
The Jobs Guarantee, “Make-Work,” and FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Lambert Strether of Corrente

Deirdre Fulton — Linking Clinton Policies to Poverty, Sanders Lays Out Plan to Help Nation's Poor

"What welfare reform did in my view was to go after some of the weakest and most vulnerable people in this country," says Bernie Sanders…

To address this scourge, Sanders called for the federal minimum wage to be lifted from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour; proposed a youth jobs program to create 1 million jobs for young Americans; and urged support for a $1 trillion, five-year push to put 13 million Americans to work in good-paying jobs rebuilding roads, bridges and railways.…

On Wednesday, Sanders also advocated for a Medicare-for-all, single-payer healthcare system to help reduce poverty.

Common Dreams
Linking Clinton Policies to Poverty, Sanders Lays Out Plan to Help Nation's Poor
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer

UMKC student video — Direct Jobs Program

Direct Jobs Program
(h/t Stephanie Kelton at FB)