Getting To Full Employment

Article below is presented for discussion, but is missing the point.  Our unemployment is caused by off-shoring, outsourcing and illegal immigration.  Eliminate these and the other problems swiftly straighten themselves out. -----rng
As a solution to the problem of unemployment, I don't like this one bit. However, it a first approximation to a solution. I humbly offer one of my ideas for consideration. Raid the factory and large plants of our country looking for undocumented workers. Take undocumented workers(if any)and one by one replace same with an unemployed American worker. Repeat until all(or mostly all) unemployed workers in America are employed. True this is not a perfect solution--but I'm trying. Stay tuned for more ideas from me and from others. ----lee


By: letsgetitdone Sunday August 15, 2010 12:19 pm

Given the problems the United States has been having and the unnecessary, misplaced, and wrong-headed, but very real angst of people about becoming insolvent if we continue to increase the size of the deficit, I find myself wondering why we have not turned to another time-tested and very effective New Deal solution to the problem of growing employment. That solution is the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Why not amend the Act so that the standard for a full-time work week is lowered to 35 Hours, while the minimum wage is raised to $10.00 per hour? While this would not by itself create full employment, because many of the already employed, will increase the frequency with which they work at second jobs, I think it’s likely to decrease the unemployment rate by 5% or so. Along with a Federal Job Guarantee program, which would cost much less if it were implemented in the context of a decreased normal work week and an increase in the minimum wage, the employment problem would be gone within 6 months, and the increase in aggregate demand would end the recession.

The benefits for working people of decreasing the hours in a full-time work week are fairly obvious, so I won’t say very much about them, but I do want to point out that doing this is one way of ensuring that some small share of the rapidly increasing productivity that has occurred since 1970 goes to working people, rather than just to the pocketbooks of wealthy Americans who have been enjoying almost all the fruits of that productivity increase over the past 40 years.

Such a measure would also be a cure for the reported $1.8 Trillion in cash that businesses are reluctant to invest, since higher wage costs would cut into the profits of large companies and force some of that cash off the sidelines. In addition, the projected rise of aggregate demand, will provide incentives for businesses to invest and get still more of that business cash off the sidelines.

Republicans, of course, will object to any such proposal saying that business, and particularly small business won’t be able to afford it in a recession. FDR faced similar arguments in 1937 and 1938. Of course, he won the day, and Americans have benefited from his courage ever since.

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