In recent weeks the Job Guarantee proposal has gained supporters, and the arguments for an increased government role in ensuring full employment have become stronger. (See here, here, and here.)
In this piece, I examine why. Bear with me because I will tie together four threads. First, we have the return of the stagnation thesis; Second there’s growing evidence that the US labor market is not recovering, and many are arguing that this is the “new normal”; Third, the Fed has (re)discovered what many of us have known all along: low interest rate policy does not stimulate investment; and Fourth, our “thought leaders” are finally discovering that Americans want government to do something about involuntary unemployment. All of these threads strengthen the case for the Job Guarantee.
