Yesterday, the Congress passed and the President signed YET ANOTHER extension of unemployment benefits.
I know we are in a recession. I know we've fallen on tough times. But I can't help but feeling that the extended benefit regime encourages people to stay unemployed longer (or more to the point, hold out longer for a better situation).
I am not alone.
Friday, April 16, 2010
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2 comments:
Perhaps Professor Mulligan adn Dr Krugman should debate this topic, with CW as the moderator. It would make for great theater and perhaps offer some solutions to the issue.
I am not totally convinced that extended benfits are a bad thing. I do wonder, however, why the number of available jobs on websites such as USAJobs, MONSTER and CareerBuilder stays so high. It seems there are a great number of jobs available. Even if you remove the Work From Home jobs form the commercial sites, there are plenty of positions available. Not enough to solve the unemployment issue, but enough to put a dent in it. As someone who just recently rejoined the work force, I was amazed at the number of jobs out there during my search. In my case, it took a good network and some outstanding butt kissing of a VP, but I am working. (Never received unemployment benefits though. Wasn't qualified after leaving the Insurance business. Life, not health.)
Larry Summer's test book on economics concludes that extending unemployment benefits only delays rigorous job searching by the unemployed. I guess his classroom advice does not square with the "real world" in Washington.
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