tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38545607.post6445601999936095629..comments2024-03-09T10:26:48.789+00:00Comments on economics, psychology, policy: No Silver BulletEmma Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11466193733741012673noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38545607.post-68638458834689812902010-09-22T20:43:50.684+00:002010-09-22T20:43:50.684+00:00I have the following comments:
1. Are education a...I have the following comments:<br /><br />1. Are education and training programmes the best use of any available funds? Getting one of these places is undoubtedly a positive experience for the potential participants, however, education and training do not guarantee subsequent employment in current labour market conditions. <br /><br />(The other Government policies in this arena have been flagged by me before: Employment Subsidy Scheme, Revised Work Placement Programme, New Activation Fund and changes to the jobseeker’s allowance and supplementary welfare allowance schemes.)<br /><br />2. The Employment Subsidy Scheme does not reduce unemployment; it is about retaining jobs that might otherwise be made redundant. <br /><br />3. The Work Placement Programme (WPP) has a maximum duration of 9 months. While participating in the WPP may make participants more employable, there is no guarantee for subsequent employment in current labour market conditions. <br /><br />4. Last year's changes to the Jobseeker’s Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance may seem quite harsh, but reservation wages may currently be too high. This is an area that at least deserves more research. It is worth reflecting on how we might expect the relationship between unemployment benefits and reservation wages to change over a boom-bust economic cycle. <br /><br />5. In a previous occasion Liam drew my attention to a Forbes article by Chicago economist Steven J Davis, which outlined ideas to reduce unemployment. My interpretation of the Davis approach is to temporarily reduce the extent of labour market regulations: to make it cheaper for employers to start hiring again.<br /><br />6. As Kevin has noted before, a lot of the evidence around cutting the minimum wage, tightening the benefit system and monitoring search effort more closely may come from economies that are closer to the equilibrium rate (of unemployment). However, I still think this evidence is worth examining.<br /><br />7. Finally, Brendan Walsh's paper "Cyclical and Structural Influences on Irish Unemployment" (Oxford Economic Papers, 2000) describes the massive reduction in Irish unemployment over the course of the 1990's. Competitiveness, the generosity of the social welfare system and the wage bargaining process are all discussed. <br /><br />On the issue of a 'jobs czar', there was an article in Newsweek earlier this year, reporting that Los Angeles City hired someone to fill that role:<br /><br />http://url.ie/7kwd<br /><br />"To help get Angelenos working again, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chose 49-year-old Austin Beutner, a former partner at the Blackstone Group and cofounder of the boutique private investment-banking company Evercore Partners. Beutner accepted the job in mid-January with a salary of $1 a year. Officially, his title is first deputy mayor, and he's charged with overseeing job creation in the city"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com