Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The 7 Million Prime Age Men Who Don't Work

“They’re not spending any more time on child care, not spending any more time on chores. They are spending a lot more time watching TV than men who are in the labor force,” says  Jason Furman, chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.

White House economist Jason Furman talks with David Wessel of The Brookings Institution about why so many men in the prime working ages of 25 to 54 are neither working or looking for work.



Furman doesn't come out and say it but he is implying that the minimum wage is keeping these low-skilled men of prime age from getting jobs.

Wackily, Wessel, the interviewer, and Furman actually take the opposite position and claim that these unskilled workers, who are not employable at the current minimum wage, would become more employable if the minimum wage was raised even higher. Go figure/

-RW

2 comments:

  1. Wackily, aren't they both Democrats?

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  2. He might be on to something. I remember when gas was $5/gallon and I couldn't buy and use enough of it. I was a driving fool. Now that gas is around $2/gal I am doing everything I can to conserve gas and only drive when necessary. I even combine trips to save on gas. Furman being a wise Harvard educated economist who got his comeuppance in economics from Stiglitz, knows very well that when something costs more, people want more of it. Thus, when the minimum wage is raised to $15/hr, employers are going to be falling all over themselves to hire these previously out-of-the-workforce males that now want to get a job since the pay will be worth their while. Employers will be doing everything they can to create jobs for these people so they can hire them, which will probably drive the price of unskilled labor through the roof. Get with the program Wenzel!

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