Discussion
  • Read More
    Tyrion's Beetle ChatHamilton Nolan
    6/09/14 5:07pm

    ...but HamNo, have you seen how the stock market is doing? Prosperity achieved!

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      JohannesClimacusTyrion's Beetle Chat
      6/09/14 5:08pm

      Hi unemployment means low labor costs which means higher profit! Corporate profits as a % of GDP are at all time highs!!! #winning

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Desi_RelafordTyrion's Beetle Chat
      6/09/14 5:35pm

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    NutgrafHamilton Nolan
    6/09/14 6:01pm

    I own a company that does business in several states. When we have to lay people off in states that pay smaller amounts to unemployed people, such as New Hampshire, they find new jobs quickly. In states where unemployment pays the most, such as Massachusetts (which also pays people for a longer time than most other states), people don't find jobs so quickly. That pretty much speaks for itself. And to correct someone's earlier post, employees do not have deductions taken from they paychecks to fund unemployment; state and federal unemployment contributions are paid solely by the employer. So it becomes a cost of business where the money might be used more productively, say to hire new people, buy new equipment (so that other people will have jobs), or even to pay dividends to stockholders who might save the money and provide some capital formation for other people to borrow to grow their businesses. Etc.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Weary WorldNutgraf
      6/09/14 6:07pm

      Yes, because the more desperate people are, the more willing they are to accept two to three part-time jobs. They are off unemployment, so who cares?

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      NutgrafWeary World
      6/09/14 6:41pm

      There are many sides to the unemployment compensation story. The people who work for me typically make $1,600 to $3,000 per week. Some more, some a little less. Some of the folks who make closer to $1,600 are happy to collect $800 per week in unemployment from Massachusetts rather than find a new job, because after taxes and the other expenses connected with working they don't take home a lot more than that $800 per week. So they happily collect unemployment. Whereas a person who makes $1,600 per week in New Hampshire and would collect unemployment benefits of $500 a week is more likely to look for a job. In Massachusetts many construction workers make, say, $2000 a week with overtime when they work, and happily collect unemployment for six months a year, rather than find a job. Even so, if you do the arithmetic, it works out to $72,000 a year for working only half the year. The examples I give here are different from what happens to people who lose a lower-paying jobs, and I recognize that those are the people we need to help the most. Which we do in other ways with food stamps, health and housing subsidies, welfare payments, and so on. But that is a discussion for another time.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    DL ThurstonHamilton Nolan
    6/09/14 5:46pm

    There are dozens of links a day here on Gawker and the other Kinja sites about how to make loads of money for simple online activities, often with compelling personal anecdotes. That people can't get off their asses and click on one of those really shows that they don't care about employment.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Desi_RelafordHamilton Nolan
      6/09/14 5:09pm

      Sounds like they better get out their bootstraps!

      Reply
      <
      • Read More
        buonragazzoHamilton Nolan
        6/09/14 5:20pm

        So, basically:

        (1) Gov't says: Don't bother applying for unemployment because you're LAZY if you're unemployed.

        (2) HR says: Don't bother applying for employment because you're UNEMPLOYABLE if you're unemployed.

        Reply
        <
        • Read More
          ardenatworkHamilton Nolan
          6/09/14 5:34pm

          *cough* Basic Universal Income *cough*

          Reply
          <
          • Read More
            wakkawakkawakkaHamilton Nolan
            6/09/14 5:06pm

            they should start a union

            Reply
            <