tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post1817207047500539479..comments2024-03-29T00:15:52.716-07:00Comments on Idiosyncratic Whisk: April Employment and EUIKevin Erdmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-57613735505753872942014-11-11T19:07:07.346-07:002014-11-11T19:07:07.346-07:00Reviewing this post, and this comment, the issues ...Reviewing this post, and this comment, the issues I list are structural issues, but obviously monetary policy has had a lot to do with employment, also.<br /><br />And, I think I have come toward Benjamin a bit on the disability issue. Here's a post where some increases in disability beyond demographic trends appear to be part of the story. <br />http://idiosyncraticwhisk.blogspot.com/2014/10/more-amazing-stuff-on-labor-force.htmlKevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-49254139909377029762014-05-04T21:58:21.745-07:002014-05-04T21:58:21.745-07:00Thanks for the input, Benjamin.
I have been track...Thanks for the input, Benjamin.<br /><br />I have been tracking what I think are the three most acute disruptions to the labor market - demographics, minimum wage hikes, and EUI.<br /><br />I don't have the links handy, but from what I have seen, I have been convinced that the disability issue is a subset of the demographics issue. There is a large jump in disability applications when age cohorts hit about 50 years old. I have read arguments (which were convincing to me) that the recent jump in disability rolls is mostly a product of the baby boomers hitting the age bracket - over 50 years old but before social security eligibility - and that once this adjustment is made, the level of disability beneficiaries is not far from what we should expect. So, I think that the effect of this trend is already baked in to the long term labor force participation trends of the different age groups, and covered by the "demographics" category.<br /><br />While disability benefits seem like a reasonable policy of an empathetic society, it really is a disgusting way to distribute social benefits, because beneficiaries subsequently can only engage in self-improvement or productive behavior at the risk of losing their benefits. It's a kind of psychological infliction that only a monster would want to impose on someone. It would be so humane to replace it with some kind of guaranteed income, or something, anything. We have this large contingent of citizens that we support at barely subsistence levels, and threaten to revoke it if they dare to act productive.<br /><br />But, that being said, I think it's yet another issue that we can chalk up to baby boomers, and it will revert to lower levels as they age out of it.Kevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-25663735276609650592014-05-04T20:09:09.770-07:002014-05-04T20:09:09.770-07:00Good stuff. Just remember, the number of Americans...Good stuff. Just remember, the number of Americans receiving "disability"---whether VA or SSDI---dwarfs the number receiving unemployment. There are about 12 million receiving disability.<br /><br /><br />Benjamin Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001038338873263877noreply@blogger.com