News
WSJ | How to Keep Workers Unemployed
House-Senate negotiators are close to a modest budget accord to avoid another government shutdown, but suddenly the White House is introducing a last-minute demand. Five years into an economic recovery that President Obama often hails as miraculous, he wants to extend unemployment benefits one more time.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The high cost of a free lunch
Last week, President Obama said that “income inequality” is the major problem that his administration would focus on for the remainder of his term. He proposed increasing the minimum wage as a way to solve this issue. The president’s statement is a perfect example of how politicians misdiagnose problems and then offer solutions that make matters worse.
Barrons | The Real Jobless Rate
The labor market purportedly turned in a Hanukkah miracle in November. The jobs report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that nonfarm payroll employment rose by an above-consensus 203,000 in November, while the unemployment rate fell from 7.3% to 7%, a five-year low.
Weekly Standard | Back to Work
Long-term unemployment is a serious problem. Liberals don’t have an answer. Conservatives can do better.
Blogs
CATO | Minimum Wage and Unemployment
“The biggest concern among economists is that imposing pay increases on employers will reduce the hiring of low-wage workers and raise unemployment. But in four decades of research by economists, this appears to be a small or nonexistent effect.”
