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Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

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Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#311

Post by lotsofpulp »

sanj wrote: post #91
seanmccann wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I understand — without private insurance in Canada, somebody with few resources in Canada is at risk of financial ruin from any of the health conditions you mentioned. For older Canadians, a pre-existing condition may not be covered, which means a serious condition could rack up significant medical bills. Edit: I should have specifically said that I'm talking about expensive prescription drugs and required…

This is flatly incorrect. The Canadian healthcare system doesn’t even have the concept of “pre-existing condition”. That term is deeply flawed and was constructed by the healthcare insurance system in the USA. The term used in Canada is “medical history”. I’m at an age where I’m watching my friends in Canada deal with family suffering from long term illnesses and ultimately, death. They all deal with anguish, grief,…

> The Canadian healthcare system doesn’t even have the concept of “pre-existing condition”. That term is deeply flawed and was constructed by the healthcare insurance system in the USA.

Neither does the US since the passage of ACA in 2010:

https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/pre-existing-conditions/

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#312

Post by quotemstr »

> We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living

No, what we must absolutely do away with is the specious notion that when you take from the productive and give to the unproductive, the productive will keep producing out of the goodness of their hearts.

Every attempt at forming a collectivist utopia fails, and that's because collectivism runs contrary to human nature. All attempts turn into coercion and atrocity, because it's only natural to want to be rewarded for one's work, and the alternative is slavery.

It really amazes me how many people in tech push for a social system that would have prevented tech emerging in the first place and that would have led for lower status for themselves personally. They can't seriously be in favor of the world they advocate.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#313

Post by opportune »

GarrisonPrime wrote: post #306
opportune wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the market were able to solve the problem better, private schools could just provide better service at lower costs (compared to public school cost + state subsidy) and few would still go to public schools right? State subsidies for public schools are not that large anymore (34% of budget for UC Berkeley comes from tuition+fees while 13% comes from state of California). These are actually IMO all examples of Baumol…

How are private schools supposed to offer better service at a lower cost, when public schools are effectively free? This is hardly a market. Even if people wish to move their children out of public schools en masse, it's not like governments are going to reduce property taxes accordingly.

Well in the example I provided, state money only amounted to a 28% subsidy (assuming if the state funding were cut, the only way to raise as much money would be to raise tuition+fees). Doesn't seem effectively free to me.

Keep in mind I was replying to a critique of "Education and health care are out of reach for many" which obviously implies higher education

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#314

Post by taiwanboy »

contingencies wrote: post #274

We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because,…

Well put. Also most of the commenters here don’t realize that people who have been unemployed for a while can’t just get to a regular job without a low wage job in between that helps to pay for some of the costs of going to school.

Also, wages in the low wage jobs ARE GOING UP, as mentioned throughout the comments

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#316

Post by BurningFrog »

onion2k wrote: post #188
gnusty_gnurc wrote: post #64

I tend to think work gives some sense of purpose to a person’s life. That’s incalculably valuable.

If you like your job that's a very useful benefit. If you don't like your job and you don't think it's actually worthwhile it serves as a reminder that you're wasting your potential, and that can be incredibly detrimental.

You can hate your job and still see that it serves an important purpose.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#317

Post by shijie »

petermcneeley wrote: post #220
ghastmaster wrote: post #172

"...we need to rethink the fundamentals of our economic and social policies" They suggest fixes in the next paragraph that are not fundamental, have already been implemented, and have directly contributed to the problem: "Federal, state, and local governments can take a number of steps to improve workers’ economic security. Boosting wages through tax credits, a higher minimum wage, or supporting sectoral bargaining;…

Would part of that bastardization since 1776 be the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863?

It seems a bit disingenuous to assume that the parent commenter laments the emancipation proclamation just because he/she has a differing view on fiscal policy. This is ad hominem by definition. Not very contributory to the conversation. What parts of his/her points do you disagree with?

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#318

Post by rayiner »

contingencies wrote: post #282
rayiner wrote: post #279

The low unemployment rate is proof that this techno optimism isn’t true.

Or, perhaps, has society failed to adapt to present technological reality due to entrenched interest in the social status quo? When so many people in the world live happily on so little, it is undeniable that we could provide for all of our basic needs if there were political will. Without education, that would likely result in a population boom, however.

I mean yes, we could all live like people do in Bangladesh and reduce the work force dramatically. I fail to see how this would be desirable.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#319

Post by Aloha »

taiwanboy wrote: post #314
contingencies wrote: post #274

We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because,…

Well put. Also most of the commenters here don’t realize that people who have been unemployed for a while can’t just get to a regular job without a low wage job in between that helps to pay for some of the costs of going to school. Also, wages in the low wage jobs ARE GOING UP, as mentioned throughout the comments

its not even going to school sometimes, often you won't get hired if you've had more then 8-10 months of unemployment without reasonable explanation.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#320

Post by _23sd »

wufufufu wrote: post #136

I hear agreement that the economy is good, but also that jobs are paying less for more work and that income inequality is larger than ever. At the same time, the housing market where I live is absolutely exploding. I feel like I'm missing something about the real condition of the economy...

Everyone has an agenda but be especially careful of real estate as an economic barometer. There’s so much speculation going on that the level of distortion can often seem criminal in retrospect. A recent example: Manhattan developers seem to be keeping thousands of new, unsold condos off the market. I don’t think it’s difficult to imagine why. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-06/manhattan...
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