Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/173504 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 895
Publisher: 
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Abstract: 
This paper examines two key aspects of unemployment-its propagation mechanism and socioeconomic costs. It identifies a key feature of this macroeconomic phenomenon: it behaves like a disease. A detailed assessment of the transmission mechanism and the existing pecuniary and nonpecuniary costs of unemployment suggests a fundamental shift in the policy responses to tackling joblessness. To stem the contagion effect and its outsized social and economic impact, fiscal policy can be designed around two criteria for successful disease intervention-preparedness and prevention. The paper examines how a job guarantee proposal uniquely meets those two requirements. It is a policy response whose merits include much more than its macroeconomic stabilization features, as discussed in the literature. It is, in a sense, a method of inoculation against the vile effects of unemployment. The paper discusses several preventative features of the program.
Subjects: 
Unemployment
Epidemic
Mortality
Morbidity
Health
Scarring Effects
Crime
Family
Job Guarantee
Labor Market Dynamics
Involuntary Job Loss
Prevention
JEL: 
E24
E62
H1
H4
I18
I3
J08
J6
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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