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Showing posts from April, 2012

Did he jump or was he pushed; is there a difference?

This New Yorker article about why so many Americans are single reminded me of the debate about unemployment prompted by Casey Mulligan . Here’s why: From the New Yorker: "...do people live alone because they want to or because they have to?" Paraphrasing Mulligan and his critics: “Are workers choosing to be unemployed or are they forced to be?” [actual quotes from Mulligan: " there are sensible people ...who will recognize that 2009 is not the time for them to...commute a long distance to work...[unemployment insurance has] dramatically reduced the costs to them of making this the year they coach junior's baseball team, or do some work on their house, or spend time with an ailing parent" " the market tends to create and allocate jobs for those people who are most interested in working " and " my research has been to examine...changes in the willingness and availability of people to work " versus Dean Baker's " this does not m