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Very happy to joint @wsbgnl in arguing for the continuation of increased & expanded UI in @theprospect. This brings up a core issue on which my views have “evolved”: do we care about employment relationships, or about worker power?
/1 https://prospect.org/coronavirus/a-way-to-help-workers-now-and-in-the-future/
/1 https://prospect.org/coronavirus/a-way-to-help-workers-now-and-in-the-future/
I think part of the reason progressives favored a “paycheck protection” approach is over-learning the lessons of the previous recession: “sectoral reallocation” and “workers need to move to where the jobs are” were utter disasters and wrecked the labor market for a decade.
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I remember Cochrane & Casey Mulligan espousing that view in the fall of 2009 and thinking “are they really so sure?” (I later realized they were full of it on that & everything else.) Trying to force “labor market fluidity” through policy should be in the dustbin of history.
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*On the other hand*, there’s nothing inherently wrong with workers moving between jobs. That can be a good sign, and we should be trying to encourage it by providing workers with outside options. Enhanced UI does that.
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Moreover, paycheck protection makes more sense when, frankly, jobs are better. Our policies are already aimed at forcing people to work if they want to eat (or have healthcare). That gives power to employers, and as a result, jobs in the US are, in general, bad.
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