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

brookings.edu

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

#321

Post by soperj »

quotemstr wrote: post #312

> 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 atte…

Or because they're essentially sanctioned by the biggest economy on earth. Do you honestly think the people of Russia are better off under capitalism?

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

#322

Post by BurningFrog »

chadlavi wrote: post #132

When you could house, feed and clothe a family of four (or more!) on a single unskilled labor job, unemployment numbers meant something. Today they mean nothing. A measure of how many households live above the poverty line would be a step in the right direction, but also frankly the poverty line in America is set too low. People 10% above it are still too poor to live comfortably on their income.

> When you could house, feed and clothe a family of four (or more!) on a single unskilled labor job

Life in those days were in extreme poverty by today's standards.

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

#323

Post by grawprog »

fartcannon wrote: post #277
grawprog wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Canadian, who's been unemployed in Canada...just what??? Being unemployed was one of the most stressful times of my life. I had to hustle for odd jobs to pay bills, and the ≈$700 every two weeks for about 4 months I got from ei wasn't even enough to cover rent. I barely made it through and kept my place. The only reason I didn't end up homeless was finding a job within the last few weeks of my ei. There were day…

Now what would you do if you had a sudden medical emergency during your time on EI? In Canada, you'd go to the doctor and then continue you on your way. In the USA, with the situation you described above, you would now be homeless. And in debt. So yes, they're both stressful. But one is worse.

>Now what would you do if you had a sudden medical emergency during your time on EI?

I'd be fucked. I have no msp coverage currently and haven't for a couple years. I can't actually go to a doctor right now unless I get hurt at work and wcb covers it.

You guys believe a lot of bullshit fairy tales about things up here honestly.

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

#324

Post by nitrogen »

rayiner wrote: post #297
arcticbull wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they meant if lots of them were doing it, not just one, in which case the denominator would go up, well, a lot. I think this was also an example of a hypothesis: Why have people doing crap jobs that are better automated just because they can’t afford to live otherwise? The system is broken, in that we need to better support the folks on the fringes so we can just automate away a lot of mindless, repetitive bo…

> Why waste a human life flipping burgers or banging away in the mines? Make robots do that, and let’s provide a solution to the displaced, like for instance basic income but totally open to alternatives. Because we don’t have the technology to actually do that? We don’t even have the technology to replace the guy taking drive through orders. (“You want one Big Mech?”). This discussion is pointless and premature. The…

We don’t even have the technology to replace the guy taking drive through orders

Yeah we do, touchscreen menus (or ATM style pushbutton menus in places with bad weather).

There are factories that assemble frozen mini burgers for supermarkets. There are pizza vending machines out there. So an entire fast food restaurant could be turned into a vending machine with current technology.

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

#325

Post by g_langenderfer »

supernova87a wrote: post #36

I don't think low unemployment is the unequivocal positive sign that politicians/ think it is ("We're putting millions of Americans back to work!"). Maybe it's not something to be so proud of. If people are having to come out of the woodwork to take jobs that aren't moving the average wage up, maybe they're doing it because they have to, in order to get by. Is it a good thing that a 60+ year old goes back to work at…

Is the alternative better?

If the retiree didn't get a low-paying job (Uber driver etc.), his neighbors would be forced to care for him through social welfare taxes. With a job, he supports himself. All the resources freed up can be put to more productive use.

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

#326

Post by oliverx0 »

quotemstr wrote: post #312

> 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 atte…

Not sure why you are being downvoted. I strongly resonate with this sentiment.

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

#328

Post by michaelmrose »

rayiner wrote: post #297
arcticbull wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they meant if lots of them were doing it, not just one, in which case the denominator would go up, well, a lot. I think this was also an example of a hypothesis: Why have people doing crap jobs that are better automated just because they can’t afford to live otherwise? The system is broken, in that we need to better support the folks on the fringes so we can just automate away a lot of mindless, repetitive bo…

> Why waste a human life flipping burgers or banging away in the mines? Make robots do that, and let’s provide a solution to the displaced, like for instance basic income but totally open to alternatives. Because we don’t have the technology to actually do that? We don’t even have the technology to replace the guy taking drive through orders. (“You want one Big Mech?”). This discussion is pointless and premature. The…

We have the ability to replace order taking just not while maintaining a speech interface.

You will ultimately order on your phone or a kiosk

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

#329

Post by henrysarabia »

subject117 wrote: post #315

This is insane. The rise in wages for the bottom half are higher than they have ever been and it is solely because of low unemployment. How in the world do some people become economists and not understand supply and demand?

There are factors at play other than supply and demand
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