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Employment and Pay in the Future
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One reason for there being no comparable unemployment target is that there is a degree of ambiguity about the goal itself. Indeed, we have to ask why the US Congress is seeking "maximum employment." Why is it better to increase the number of sixty-four-year-olds stacking supermarket shelves? To pursue this further, we have to distinguish between intrinsic and instrumental reasons for seeking to increase employment. The instrumental reason is that with which I began the chapter: that employment is the principal route for individuals and their families to escape poverty and for societies to return to lower levels of inequality. [...]
[...] the labour-market goal should be stated, not in terms of maximising employment but in terms of minimising involuntary employment [...]
he differentiates between people who choose to not work (because they want to look after their children, for instance) and those who are looking for more work
One reason for there being no comparable unemployment target is that there is a degree of ambiguity about the goal itself. Indeed, we have to ask why the US Congress is seeking "maximum employment." Why is it better to increase the number of sixty-four-year-olds stacking supermarket shelves? To pursue this further, we have to distinguish between intrinsic and instrumental reasons for seeking to increase employment. The instrumental reason is that with which I began the chapter: that employment is the principal route for individuals and their families to escape poverty and for societies to return to lower levels of inequality. [...]
[...] the labour-market goal should be stated, not in terms of maximising employment but in terms of minimising involuntary employment [...]
he differentiates between people who choose to not work (because they want to look after their children, for instance) and those who are looking for more work