Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/238671 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 981
Publisher: 
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Abstract: 
The job guarantee is a viable policy option for tackling both unemployment and underemployment. Hyman P. Minsky was one of the seminal writers on this subject. The first part of this working paper provides a survey of Minsky's writings to identify what kind of jobs he had in mind when recommending employer-of-last-resort policies. Minsky favored: (1) jobs increasing socially useful output, providing all of society better public services and goods; (2) jobs guaranteed by the public sector on a project-by-project basis at a minimum wage; (3) jobs in the places where people need them; and (4) jobs taking the people that need them as they are. The second part of the paper suggests policy recommendations for today's economy. As long as the COVID-19 pandemic still rages on, a targeted public job guarantee program can assist in the social provisioning and distribution of food, shelter, and medical services. After the pandemic, a public job guarantee can reduce poverty and inequality, and bring about a more democratic, sustainable, and socially cohesive economic system.
Subjects: 
Job Guarantee
Public Service Employment
Employer of Last Resort (ELR)
Unemployment
Full Employment
Minsky
Policy Design
COVID-19
JEL: 
B31
E24
E61
H41
H53
I38
J21
J45
J68
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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