Hire someone who has been out of work for more than 6 months, and Uncle Sam will pay you $4,000 under Obama's Job Act described last night. You hired 4 chronically unemployed last week? Too bad - you're screwed. You left $16,000 on the table.
You applying for a jo,b but you've been out of work for only a week. There's a good chance someone less qualified will get it. Sorry, you're screwed. Employers need to reshuffle applicants into the chronically unemployed and others. Forge ranking job applicants by "most qualified"..
Getting ready to hire somebody? My advice is to wait until Congress passes this act. Out of work for 5 months? Hey...you should wait a month because you can probably get a better job.
The good news is there will be job creation. Bureaucrats will be needed to track the program and to write the rules. Pundits will get more attention as they try to explain the program and why we're turning into Europe. After al,l Europe has done a great job. How long before companies can't fire their worst workers?
People of a certain vintage remember the days when considerable resources were directed towards getting around the ravages of inflation. Today resources are directed towards gaming the government's macroeconomic policies. It's too bad. The free market system is all powerful, but it needs room to work. Setting up perverse incentives spirals the country downward.
One wonders where they are getting the economists who think these things up!
They used to call these things full employment acts for lawyers, accountants, and bureaucrats . I think what we actually is less brain-power figuring out how to game the system, and more brain-power spent on how to produce new products and services.
ReplyDeleteBand-aids when what's needed is a surgery.
ReplyDeleteObama just doesn't get it, or maybe the people don't get it and Obama is just complying with their wishes. None of these so-called "solutions" will do anything except as you said, employ more bureaucrats!
ReplyDeleteSome people are in love with Europe, but they haven't been there I guess, because Europe is not actually that well off. A very beautiful place, but also very expensive and with lower living standards for the average European.