Federal Job Guarantee

Economy
1

Rather than propose a minimum basic income, why not promise those who are unemployed a well-paying government job with benefits? It is not like there is a shortage of tasks that need doing. When Amazon or Wal-Mart or Pfizer or Intel or Citigroup lays off a thousand workers, instead of putting those workers on unemployment, why not put them to work, ideally near their homes, using skills they already have—to improve our infrastructure, build or refurbish and upgrade housing, solar and wind farms, libraries, schools; improve the electric grid, teach, provide support in areas of their training for federal, state, and city functions etc. If the federal job pays $20 an hour with generous benefits, a new minimum wage would be established, and no one fit and wanting to work would be denied a job. At present, our Federal Reserve makes sure that at least 4% of those actively looking for work will not find it, not to mention those who have given up. (The Fed operates on the theory that when the unemployment rate drops below approximately 4%, inflation begins to rise, though historical evidence shows that even at times of full employment, as during the two 20th century World Wars, inflation did not occur. As long as the work is productive it does not cause inflation–see The Deficit Myth [Stephanie Kelton]). This is predistribution rather than redistribution. The point of taxes is the latter, and if we are going to cut taxes further (and so decrease redistribution) we need to provide living wages to those at the bottom, who already don’t pay any tax, to begin to address inequality.