Saturday, June 17, 2017

Paul Krugman on Trump Zombie Economic Policy


As President Trump continues to launch absurd economic policy after absurd economic policy, it continues to make such horrific thinking Keynesian economists such as Larry Summers and Paul Krugman look good in comparison.


The latest example comes via the Trump announcement on Thursday that he is launching a crony taxpayer funded apprenticeship program to bridge the "skills gap."


The New York Times reported:



President Trump is taking one of the most concrete steps of his presidency on Thursday to address the employment prospects of workers left behind by the current economic expansion. In doing so, he also joins a long-running and occasionally contentious debate over whether those workers have the skills they need to land desirable jobs.
Mr. Trump’s action comes in the form of an executive order expanding federally funded apprenticeship programs...
In the eyes of the president and many corporate leaders, the crux of the problem is skills — the proposition that employers are eager to fill millions of good-paying jobs that workers lack the skills to perform.
This is total nonsense though, and Krugman is on top of it.
He linked to a 2014 commentary where he discussed the phony "skills gap":
And if you need more evidence that this is a crony deal rather than some bridging the "skills gap" program. Just look who is supporting the program: fast and casual food restaurants. From the New York Times: 
“We applaud the Department of Labor and the administration for being willing to look at how to craft this in a way that brings apprenticeships to a new range of audiences,” said Rob Gifford, executive vice president of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which oversees the industry group’s apprenticeship programs.
 -RW

3 comments:

  1. Mr. Trump’s action comes in the form of an EXECUTIVE ORDER EXPANDING FEDERALLY FUNDED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS...

    The fundamental nature of this “program” is something Democrats should love and Republicans should hate. The fact that this does not register at all with the public demonstrates the complete failure of Austrian School and libertarian outreach.

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  2. I don't get what you are eluding to about Austrians or Libertarians. I don't see how any of this feflects on us.

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  3. Government creates the minimum wage and sets it high enough that people without skills aren't hired. After some time there is a so-called shortage of people with the skills needed to be paid at the minimum wage or above. Why? On the job training slowed or stopped because of the minimum wage being too high. Government fixes this problem it made by creating an apprenticeship program.

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