Covering the Economy: Louis Uchitelle

Louis Uchitelle

Brad's review of his new book, The Disposable American http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2006/03/louis_uchitelle.html

Comments

[Charles]

Well, I'm interested in this one, Wood Turtle.

I tend to think Brad is wrong on this one. Sure, unemployment compensation and retraining would do a lot to diminish the economic damage of layoffs, but the reality of the work world is that many dismissals are (a) capricious, (b) part of an effort to cover up illegal or unethical activities, or (c) the result of very bad planning by management. Therefore, socializing the costs amounts to increasing the moral hazard problem.

I think there has to be a second prong to the approach, based in *recognizing* the full costs of our at-will employment environment. There has to be more accountability by management. There has to be a much stronger labor market so that whistleblowers can't be blacklisted. We need to start enforcing the laws, which clearly permit union organizing.

I don't know whether Brad has experience being an at-will employee or whether he's experienced the other side of being an employer. I would guess he has little of either experience, because missing from his analysis is a recognition of spillover effects that people who do have experience would immediately recognize.

One spillover effect that I'd like to see discussed is the relationship between long commutes and employment insecurity.

It's an interesting topic, one that I missed and am happy to have a chance to comment on.

[melody]

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