Гарантована робота. Аргументи «за»

The Case For

by Pavlina R. Tcherneva

В житті немає жодних гарантій. А якщо ти просто хочеш працювати і отримувати гідну заробітну плату? У цій книжці експертка з економіки Павліна Чернева доводить, що кожна людина має право на гарантовану роботу.

Пандемія призвела до величезних втрат – ринки обвалювалися один за одним, а безробіття хвилею прокотилося світом. Для того, щоб уникнути цього у майбутньому Чернева пропонує теоретичну модель «гарантованої роботи». У основі ідеї – можливість добровільного працевлаштування на державну службу кожному, хто цього потребує. Чітко та переконливо авторка перераховує численні переваги такої політики та пропонує план її впровадження.

Безробіття дорого обходиться людям, громадам та державам. Але ці втрати поєднуються та множаться, доки ми це толеруємо. Саме тому модель «гарантованої роботи» стане інвестицією у людські та природні ресурси, а також формою щеплення проти епідемії безробіття.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics, Labor

Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Eric Bottorff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I said in my review of Stephanie Kelton’s new book, I’m still not entirely convinced of the price stabilizing quality of the JG. But that issue aside, only the most stubborn opponent of this policy could get through this book and come away unconvinced of its wisdom and necessity.

[Elinor Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched and thorough. I am in support of the Job Guarantee as an automatic macroeconomic stabiliser, and to ameliorate the devastating effects of unemployment.

However, I have a few quibbles. She asserts that infrastructure projects should not be part of the Job Guarantee, because they “should not fluctuate with the business cycle, nor should they be discontinued in expansions”. So why is infrastructure exalted in this way, and yet the JG jobs she promotes, ie care for the environment and for people, can be dropped off during expansions without a problem? To me it shows a lower priority of the environment and the needs of vulnerable people than to the needs of capitalist production.

This is also evident in the way references are often made to the desirability of JG workers getting a job in the private sector as the ultimate desirable outcome of the program. What about jobs in the ongoing public sector? There seems to be little concern about the social value of whatever private sector job the worker goes to, yet there are many “bullshit jobs” in the private sector which harm society, eg the gambling industry.

To be fair, she does go into some detail about the Green New Deal in the last chapter, and promotes it as a desirable program to meet the twin challenges of climate change and social justice in at least the short term. But I don’t see an overarching vision as we had post World War II, about the rights of the public to not just employment, but public goods more generally such as housing, free education and health care (in at least some countries), a welfare safety net for the vulnerable, and so on. Just guaranteeing a minimum wage job to all in itself is not all that inspiring.

She also admits in Chapter 5 that the JG work might not be all that productive, because “when the emphasis is on the project, rather than the person, it becomes difficult to advocate for jobs for all.” So in effect, the “services” being offered from the JG to care for people and the environment might well be of a lower quality than those provided by more professional staff. This also reveals the lower priority the author puts on those things.

These flaws in the JG do not rule it out in my mind, because I do see a benefit in opportunities to upskill the unemployed, give them the chance to learn work discipline, and avail themselves of the social and personal development opportunities of employment. However, I only see the JG as part of a broader economic reform, which would include the nationalisation of essential services, greater redistribution of income and a commitment to universal basic services.

Consequently, I am looking forward to reading the book “Universal Basic Services“ in this series.

[Erlend Dahlen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The general idea - employment for all - is alluring

I find the distinction between real and financial costs as an interesting takeaway. In an MMT-world, where a sovereign nation can print its own money, it can always finance big costs, like a Job Guarantee. This, as opposed to the real cost of unused human capital - unemployment.

A main critique of the Job-Guarantee is that the work will be "unproductive". Here, it is important to remember that the reference is not necessarily the private sector, but instead unemployment. "Something is always better than nothing"

Productivity is often defined in a narrow sense that loses much of what we value in society; like trust, security, purpose, community, etc. If we use a broader definition that includes these the Job-Guarantee is much more "productive".

One key idea is that a job guarantee will work as a buffer for the economy. When the private sector is in a downturn, people will be employed in the Job-Guarantee at a fixed, and lower, salary, countering deflationary pressures and reduced demand. When the private sector is in an upturn, it will re-hire people from the Job-Guarantee. This will put deflationary pressure on the economy because the government budget will be reduced proportionally to the JG-salaries.

My main objection to the Job-Guarantee is how it will work in practice(What work will be done, who will administer it, etc.). Although Tcherneva points to places where it has worked and thoughts on how it could work, I am still unconvinced.

[Alan M. de León · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not hyperbole to suggest that the Job Guarantee is probably the most important economic policy we could achieve in this new decade. Pavlina reminds us in this brilliant and forward text that, unless we have widespread social and economic security here at home, there cannot be environmental justice and peace in the world. A mandatory read for all, especially in this moment of a pandemic-induced recession.

[Daregross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way I would know this is a book by a Bard professor even if I didn't read it in the synopsis 💀

[Tim Knutson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I fully appreciated the idea of a job’s guarantee when I read this, and maybe even couldn’t quite see its advantages to UBI. After reading more, about Keynes, the New Deal, and a little about Galbraith, it’s pretty clear why it’s preferable, the government is able to do what the private sector never could or never would do. So it makes sense to direct funding and resources to things that are difficult to make a profit off of or take a long to time to profitability because they are still really valuable

[Ciarán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Politically infeasible and I remain to be convinced that it is going to be as effectively administered and flexible as Tcherneva claims. Doesn't talk about the make-work issue from the point of view of the unemployed either. However, if you read this and don't accept that it is a practical and necessary policy, then you are ideologically blinkered.

[Macho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is nice, short read published in 2020, heartily endorsed by the likes of Cory Doctorow and Noam Chomsky. I was partly interested in it because I'd like to grapple more with the types of economic policies we should fight for and against in light of compelling left critiques against universal basic income/UBI as well as of measures aimed to rein in inflation. Although Doctorow explicitly raised this book to present a more viable alternative than UBI, the book itself doesn't raise the UBI issue at all, and it strikes me that some of the anti-UBI positions I've heard could possibly apply to the Job Guarantee as well. Anyway, to get to the book, it makes the case that the notion of a "natural rate of unemployment" that was made hegemonic in the 20th century has no more solid basis and doesn't deserve any more respect than a "natural rate of child poverty" or "natural rate of illiteracy". (All three of these should be zero.) She points to the fact that a job guarantee inherently acts as a stabilizer of things like inflation, in that the number of publicly funded jobs will automatically shrink at times when private sector employment is expanding, and automatically grow as private sector employment shrinks. She frames the job guarantee in the context of a Green New Deal (although very clearly doesn't equate the two). At some point I'd love to better understand the potential relevance of a job guarantee approach to societies that have broken from capitalism in favour of popular control over the economy, but it's unfortunately outside the scope of this book.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The basis for this book is the world of the Gulag, see Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: Section 1, Vol. 2. Every has something to do. And if one takes a sabbatical than ”you are not doing your fair share”. Tcherneva has a hard time understanding that unemployment can be solved tomorrow: simply get people to dig a ditch somewhere. Life is more complicated than that. Life is about people finding a way to serve other people and not the Governmental machine. Sure, on the very shallow it looks like people have a hard time finding work. But this hard time is generated entirely by the Government divined by Tcherneva: useless diplomas so that hordes of Academic paper pushers could live a comfy life, way too expensive homes so some no good politician could get the Union votes, difficulties in readjusting to a different environment because the Nanny Government brought everything in the near proximity, minimal wages, licensing, and many more. Probably one could write a book longer than this one only listing the ways Governments bestow unemployment to the serfs.

[digger Blaque · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very readable book that argues that true full employment would be good for our economy and that all workers have a right to a job. The Job Guarantee is not welfare, nor is it "busy work". As part of a federally funded Green New Deal, the Guarantee would allow local communities to decide what jobs should be available to the unemployed. The author envisions jobs in care for Seniors and the disabled, environmental remediation, helping communities in disrepair and those lacking services--the list is endless. In some ways, it is similar to New Deal era jobs programs. the difference being that the modern Job Guarantee would be permanent and open to everyone. I recommend this book highly.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

As brief as it is, the book makes a good case for what will be the most transformative policy ever adopted, should it become reality now - 77 years after having been proposed as the centerpiece of FDR's unrealized Economic Bill of Rights. My greatest criticism is that while Tcherneva rightly stresses the environmental impact that will occur beyond the economic impact, she barely mentions the looming crisis in caretaking that it can address. As Boomers head towards the ranks of the oldest-old circa 2030-2050, we will need an army of personal care assistants that the collapsing for-profit long-term care industry is unable to provide. A Job Guarantee can provide that army.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic insight into just how we can move our economy and society forward into a new era while providing job guarantees and fixing the social safety net that has been destroyed by misguided classical economic thinking and build a new green economy. Through the lense of MMT we can transition our society out of the dark ages we are currently suffocating under and move to a better more holistic economy and society and actually create a world that unburdens our children from the current economic model that imprisons them.

[Daniel Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book in its ideas and very humane. I was surprised that the calculations for providing this policy were less than 2% of US GDP. I thought it was going to be quite an expensive policy.

The only problem was the advocacy of Modern Monetary Theory which is not workable with such high rates of inflation. I also thought it was good to link to providing Federal Jobs to the Green New Deal.

[Nataliya Nawaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! The fact that this program has worked for so many other countries, but has not yet been implemented in the U.S. blows my mind. We need Tcherneva's job guarantee plan asap. The book is written very clearly and is easy to understand even for those not well-versed in economics. The audio book is also a great choice for a long drive. Highly recommend.

[Indra Permana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea of job guarantee. However, this book lacks of technical discussion of how it would be funded. The Second half is too exhausting to read since it contains too many repetitive and moral imperatives.

[Lindsey Hofer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author convinced me. We need a job guarantee. But they moved so quickly. I know the what and the why, but not the how. I wish they had gone into greater detail regarding implementation. So really, my only complaint is that I wish it was longer.

[Basia Furtak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przyjazna lektura, która pomimo zawładnięcia treści tematami ekonomicznymi i programem kwarancji zatrudnienia, uwrażliwia, pokazując ze wzrost gospodarczy nie musi dziać się kosztem człowieka, a na rzecz człowieka.

[Sascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, clear and convincing. It is pretty concise so one shouldn't expect a wide ranging discussion of the economic implications but it does point to further info or reading if that is what you desire. It was exactly what I hoped it would be.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong argument for gov't hiring the unemployed, instead of just paying them until they find new jobs.

[Zoltan Pogatsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book, but a forceful book.
Contains all the right arguments for a job guarantee. Nothing less, nothing more.

[Zoltan Pogatsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A down to earth short argument for a job guarantee.

[Subliminal · Rating 5 out of 5]

An introduction to one of the most important economic policies of our times. If you care for a just green transition ... read this.

[Héctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una buena introducción, corta y amena, al Trabajo garantizado en el contexto de in Green New Deal. Quizás lo mejor sea la reflexión sobre los costes el desempleo y las muchas trampas que supone.

[Vincent Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the future, if you want a future.

[Anna rzk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands on one of the best books I have read .

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Common sense proposal that should have been done yesterday

[Ryan O'Malley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great concise argument for a job guarantee. It covers both the necessity within a Green New Deal economy and without it.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, great plan, but it’s never going to happen because it undermines the interests of the corrupt oligarchy that governs through its puppets in government.

[Polina Vlasenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Це текст про політичну програму, орієнтовано на США. Не очікуйте більшого

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book focused entirely on the central policy piece for many economists subscribing to the Modern Monetary Theory -- the need for a federal jobs guarantee. Acting much like unemployment in terms of an automatic stabilizer, a federal jobs guarantee would increase in cost during times of high unemployment and decrease during times of low unemployment.

Ensuring that people have access to quality jobs, even during times of recession, would be an immense asset to our country. As Dr. Tcherneva states in the book (as well as other MMT scholars in various other fora), businesses are much less likely to hire people who have been unemployed for long periods of time. Rather than subsidizing people to be unproductive and unemployed, we could instead be paying people to do substantive work in the "care economy" (as Techerneva describes it in this book.) This book is not only well-written but describes what I perceive as the core difference between 20th-century socialism and socialism for the 21st century: the debate between class conflict & redistribution (20th-century focus), and the creation of new wealth and instruments of power (the 21st-century focus.)

I highly recommend reading this book accompanied by Dr. Stephanie Kelton's "The Deficit Myth."