Unemployment Creates Jobs
George Savage ·
Jul 2, 2010 at 9:03am
From the congressional loony bin: Watch Speaker Nancy Pelosi boldy go where no one has gone before, asserting that unemployment insurance "creates jobs faster than most any other initiative you can name."
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Jun '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
Sounds like a solid endorsement of "trickle-down economics." Not where you want it to trickle from, but trickling none the less.
May '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
John Dennis 2010
May '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
The woman hasn't a clue about basic economics, and the scary thing is that she doesn't know she doesn't have a clue. Reminds me of a recent article in the NYT derived from a paper called, "“Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties of Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-assessments.”
The article lead with the true story of a man who thought he could rob banks undisguised because, by covering himself with lemon juice, he was making himself invisible to security cameras. Basically, he was too stupid to know he was stupid.
My advice to the Speaker: stay away from the lemon juice.
May '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
Gee, and here I thought companies hiring people was actually the fastest way to create jobs...
So, by San Fran Nan's reasoning, all those on unemployment at government employees?
May '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
Oh Granny Rictus, you do go on!
May '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
Entitlement spending creates jobs faster than any initiative Nancy Pelosi can name, but that's only because Nancy Pelosi can't name any other government initiatives.
May '10
Re: Unemployment Creates Jobs
I've had a nagging guilt for much of the day for simply labeling her as clueless, so let me be a bit more expansive. Yes, UI payments are conceivably a pass-through from the bank accounts of employers to the state to the unemployed to the people they pay for things like groceries and household supplies. And I'll also stipulate that the payments allow the unemployed some level of stability while they, presumably, look for a new job.
My problems with her statement are:
1. UI doesn't so much create jobs as marginally preserve jobs by keeping the revenue of the local grocery store on an even keel. They're not the same.
2. Making it more expensive for employers to hire workers (by adding taxes) is a job killing initiative.
3. Unemployment benefits arguably decrease the urgency with which the jobless look for another job.
Better job creating initiatives would be (a) reducing top marginal income tax rates; (b) lowering the minimum wage, and (c) reducing the supply of illegal workers.