There''s no job shortage at the macro level. The fixation on creating more jobs is distracting us from the problem of a worker glut.
In the "two blades of a scissors" image of supply and demand, the conversation is always about one blade -- adding to the demand for people willing to work. And so we ignore the real problem, the excess supply. By focusing on only the demand side --- we end up only with a policy trying to fix that problem. But there is a remedy for the glut of workers. Shorter working time. If we adopt a four day week, 20 percent of the work-hours on offer in "standard jobs" disappears. Supply drops, pay rises. Why won't Pen-l discuss this beyond the sneer level? All this is not to say, of course, that individuals, and large segments of society, are unable to find work and need policies to assist them in a terrible plight. But let's discuss the glut of working hours on offer. Gene Coyle _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
