Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Brad DeLong warns about the particular threat of long-term unemploymentEconomist Brad DeLong in Long-term unemployment: the next threat to the world economy Guardian 08/02/2012 reminds us of the damaging economic effects of widespread long-term unemployment, to the economy as a whole as well as to the individuals directly affected:At its nadir in the winter of 1933, the Great Depression was a form of collective insanity. Workers were idle because firms would not hire them; firms would not hire them because they saw no market for their output; and there was no market for output because workers had no incomes to spend.Now, I have some reservations about arguments that we will face "structural" unemployment, i.e., jobs not able to find qualified workers, because conservatives currently use that as an excuse to oppose government economic stimulus. The current problem in the US economy is inadequate demand, which in a technical sense could be easily remedied with the right kind of stimulus. It's politics - and seriously deficient economic ideology - that are blocking that solution. But the long-term unemployment problem is a very real one. Tags: poverty, unemployment, us economy | +Save/Share | | |
FEATURED QUOTE
No subject for immortal verse That we who lived by honest dreams Defend the bad against the worse." -- Cecil Day-Lewis from Where Are The War Poets?
ABOUT US
RECENT POSTS
ARCHIVES
RECENT COMMENTS
[Tip: Point cursor to any comment to see title of post being discussed.]
SEARCH THIS SITE
BLUE'S NEWS
ACT BLUE
BLUE LINKS
Environmental Links Gay/Lesbian Links News & Media Links Organization Links Political Links Religious Links Watchdog Links
BLUE ROLL
MISCELLANEOUS
|