Demand Jobs Now

The WPA of the 30's-40's was (and is still) widely regarded as a success

The verdict is in. There’s no more reasonable debate to be had.

Look around your town. Is there work that needs doing? Are there people who need jobs? This isn’t rocket science people.

Is there work that needs doing? Are there people who need jobs?

There’s a radical new idea that’s gaining traction among those of us concerned with improving our society. That idea is called a “Job Guarantee” and it treats the Federal Government as an employer of last resort. The Federal Government would fund this program, however in each community, it would be self-directed. That is to say, not every city needs to repave their roads (however mine desperately does). So it would be up to people in each city to figure out what their needs are and how people who want work can meet those needs.

This idea is similar to the Works Projects Administration of the late 30’s & 40’s. A ton of great things were accomplished by the WPA — Wikipedia states “Almost every community in the United States had a new park, bridge or school constructed by the agency.”

In fact, Argentina ran a limited trial of a Job Guarantee and it was enormously successful (until it lost political favor):

This would have quite a few interesting side effects:

1. The minimum wage would no longer be regulated but would be in effect by virtue of the a minimum wage & benefit package available through the Job Guarantee, working for your community.
2. It would even out the natural “boom & bust” cycle of capitalism by infusing cash during a recession and during a boom more people would naturally find better jobs in the private sector, thus tempering the peaks.
3. It would provide goods & services that are inadequately met by the private sector. Some types of activities cannot (and morally should not) be done profitably. As such, these activities are largely ignored by businesses.
4. Largely eliminate poverty.

I know what you’re going to say next. “But how will we afford it?”

This is actually a trick question. The answer is simple: the government will pay for it.

“How will we afford it?” is a trick question. Don’t fall for it.

Who is allowed to print more money? Here’s a hint: not you, not your company, and not entrepreneurs (despite appearances). Money isn’t backed by gold anymore. It’s simply an IOU from the government which it will accept as payment for taxes. A dollar says “the US Government owes you one dollar worth of tax credit.” So to fund the Job Guarantee, they simply need to hand out more IOU’s.

If you’re still unsure about funding it, read up on Modern Monetary Theory.

Societally, we are wasting the human potential of every single person living in poverty.

Poverty is hurting people. It’s wasting their potential. Imagine if Bach had been born into poverty and was never even able to touch a piano. Imagine if Einstein had been too poor to afford to go to university.

We can make our society better. We can fix the problems that have plagued us for centuries. This isn’t simply about eliminating poverty, it’s about making our communities better for all of us.

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