Don't miss the essay by Thomas B. Edsall in the June 10, 2014 NYT. Edsall reveals to Times readers what has seemed obvious to others for a few years. The weak job market is pushing people down from college level jobs to clerical, those pushed then push others down into ... well, the picture is easy to get. Edsall calls it a "downward ramp."
Edsall notes that even Autor, of MIT is finally acknowledging that this is going on, and he, Edsall, notes further that Larry Summers, believer now in stagnation, still believes that traditional government spending will solve this. Lots of other economists reported on, especially interesting Canadian professors. Larry Mishel and EPI is acknowledged but not the space deserved for pioneering work over the years. The stunningly obvious step for society is to cut the work week, but as usual goes unmentioned. Take supply out of the market, raise the price. Every other supplier in the economy -- autos, pharmaceuticals, software -- keeps prices up by cutting supply. Some through market power, others through government intervention. Only workers cannot do it, for they must eat. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/opinion/the-downward-ramp.html?hp&rref=opinion Gene _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
