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Last week, I reported that increasing unemployment benefits by $600 per week through July would discourage workers from returning to work sooner, if it is safe to do so. 1/n https://www.aier.org/article/exploding-unemployment-benefits-will-delay-recovery/
Some people thought I was saying workers were lazy or undeserving of assistance. Neither was true. I think many workers look forward to returning to work. The CARES Act forces them to choose between doing what’s best for their family and returning to work before July. 2/n
And, as I wrote then, "I am not opposed to helping the least well off. I am opposed to requiring the least well off to remain completely unproductive in order to receive that help.” 3/n
Now the stories are rolling in. @politico reports that few small business will see their loans forgiven because the increase in unemployment benefits makes it difficult to keep folks on payroll. 4/n https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/20/restaurant-bailout-unemployment-coronavirus-197326
Of course, most states require one be able, available, and actively seeking work to collect unemployment benefits. That means you could face penalties if your employer calls you back to same job at same wage and you decline. But this is difficult to enforce. Moreover, … 5/n
...as the AP reports, some employers are “reluctant to push … employees to return to work because, under unemployment benefit rules, they could lose their weekly checks if they turn down potential jobs.” 6/n https://apnews.com/380b07b9292ea7ae4d382f091d99bf10
There is nothing malicious about remaining unemployed or refusing to call your employees back because you know what they’d have to give up. It’s just people trying to do the best they can for those they care about with the limited resources they have. 7/n
But these policies make us poorer. They slow the recovery. So I will say it again: let’s find ways to help those who are struggling that doesn't require they remain completely unproductive in order to receive that help. 8/8
