Sperling on 'Rising Tide Economics'

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2011/01/sperling-on-rising-tide-economics

For a sense of where President Obama's new director of the National Economic Council, Gene Sperling, is coming from, this 2007 article from the journal Democracy is a good place to look:

Unfortunately, what people most want from government–a plan to save specific jobs or to pinpoint where new ones are coming from–is where government is not the most competent. After all, it was not long ago that the U.S. government was convinced that one of the fastest-growing occupations in the new economy would be travel agents.

More:

we should favor policies, like wage insurance, that both provide economic security and dignity for displaced workers while not creating the disincentives to work that have at times hampered European nations. A 50 percent wage-insurance program would reduce the depth of economic falls: If a worker making $20 an hour were forced to take a new job at $10 an hour, wage insurance would cover 50 percent–or $5 an hour–for a period of years, which could be extended for those in their 50s who may have trouble starting new careers. Yet, because wage insurance is triggered only by finding a new job, it cannot be accused of replicating European disincentives to get back into the workforce

Those are probably the two most-free-market oriented parts of a long article.

by Editor  |  Jan 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm Related Topics:  Non-Profits, Politics, President Obama receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list