tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948982521501107752.post7371258882555195205..comments2023-10-21T09:03:15.270-04:00Comments on Rogue Economist Rants: Allocating stimulus between unemployed and would-be employerRogue Economisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439817966760459091noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948982521501107752.post-72579433289911557332011-04-10T15:50:13.674-04:002011-04-10T15:50:13.674-04:00Karl, you misunderstand what I mean by an "al...Karl, you misunderstand what I mean by an "alternative to seeking employment". The alternative I'm talking about is NOT SEEKING EMPLOYMENT. If we give too much to people so they do not have to look for employment, neither will they go into entrepreneurship, which is even harder and much more fraught with risk than seeking employment.<br /><br />I am not advocating we force people to seek employment. I'm actually advocating for more people to get into business and do entrepreneurial activities. Why do you think we're not seeing enough people getting into it?Rogue Economisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03439817966760459091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948982521501107752.post-51533547253404062762011-04-10T08:23:18.273-04:002011-04-10T08:23:18.273-04:00"My position is we also have to find a cut-of..."My position is we also have to find a cut-off point so we don’t give too much assurance of survival that it counters with the goal of putting every able person in productive employment. Unemployment would not be solved if we create alternatives to seeking employment."<br /><br />I think that's poorly phrased at the very least, because it seems to equate 'working for someone else' with 'productive'. There are many ways to be productive without being employed; entrepreneurship and homemaking at the most universally agreed on, but independent work in the arts or volunteer work for charitable or community organizations. <br /><br />I think more useful productivity is suppressed than gained by forcing people to seek employment than by giving them a baseline grant on the assumption that they'll be better able to figure out how they can invest it in generating the most productivity.<br /><br />Will some use it as an excuse to do nothing personally productive? Sure. But it's their loss to make that choice and everyone else's gain, as the money that they spend helps increase the pay and thus the standard of living for those that do want more than the baseline.<br /><br />When you take all able people and the technological tools that we have to enhance production into account, we end up with far more productive capacity than we could ever hope to consume. I think taking away the pressure for people to seek external employment beyond what it takes to meet the demands of society and trade opportunities pushes us into a dangerous and unsustainable economic state.Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17795848595613466328noreply@blogger.com