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Economy
In reply to the discussion: Weekend Economists Stamp Out Ignorance December 27-29, 2013 [View all]Demeter
(85,373 posts)7. The Fear Economy By PAUL KRUGMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/opinion/krugman-the-fear-economy.html?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto&_r=2&
More than a million unemployed Americans are about to get the cruelest of Christmas gifts. Theyre about to have their unemployment benefits cut off. You see, Republicans in Congress insist that if you havent found a job after months of searching, it must be because you arent trying hard enough. So you need an extra incentive in the form of sheer desperation.
As a result, the plight of the unemployed, already terrible, is about to get even worse. Obviously those who have jobs are much better off. Yet the continuing weakness of the labor market takes a toll on them, too. So lets talk a bit about the plight of the employed.
Some people would have you believe that employment relations are just like any other market transaction; workers have something to sell, employers want to buy what they offer, and they simply make a deal. But anyone who has ever held a job in the real world or, for that matter, seen a Dilbert cartoon knows that its not like that.
The fact is that employment generally involves a power relationship: you have a boss, who tells you what to do, and if you refuse, you may be fired. This doesnt have to be a bad thing. If employers value their workers, they wont make unreasonable demands. But its not a simple transaction. Theres a country music classic titled Take This Job and Shove It. There isnt and wont be a song titled Take This Consumer Durable and Shove It.
So employment is a power relationship, and high unemployment has greatly weakened workers already weak position in that relationship...
More than a million unemployed Americans are about to get the cruelest of Christmas gifts. Theyre about to have their unemployment benefits cut off. You see, Republicans in Congress insist that if you havent found a job after months of searching, it must be because you arent trying hard enough. So you need an extra incentive in the form of sheer desperation.
As a result, the plight of the unemployed, already terrible, is about to get even worse. Obviously those who have jobs are much better off. Yet the continuing weakness of the labor market takes a toll on them, too. So lets talk a bit about the plight of the employed.
Some people would have you believe that employment relations are just like any other market transaction; workers have something to sell, employers want to buy what they offer, and they simply make a deal. But anyone who has ever held a job in the real world or, for that matter, seen a Dilbert cartoon knows that its not like that.
The fact is that employment generally involves a power relationship: you have a boss, who tells you what to do, and if you refuse, you may be fired. This doesnt have to be a bad thing. If employers value their workers, they wont make unreasonable demands. But its not a simple transaction. Theres a country music classic titled Take This Job and Shove It. There isnt and wont be a song titled Take This Consumer Durable and Shove It.
So employment is a power relationship, and high unemployment has greatly weakened workers already weak position in that relationship...
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